Sensitive Leisure: Writing the Lived Experience of Air Pollution

ABSTRACT

We explore the sensory experiences of individuals who live, work, and play in an environment marred by air pollution. Sensory phenomenology provides a theoretical lens through which to analyze the experiences of residents living with and through air pollution events in the Salt Lake metropolitan area, Utah. Excerpts from ten essays are presented to support four researcher-developed themes and reflexive analyses. The role of the senses in negotiating air pollution during leisure experiences is discussed, as is the democratization of embodiment resulting from exposure to air pollution. We show how research that uses sensory descriptions as primary data can provide a radical closeness to the lived leisure experience as well as a replicable model for sensitive leisure scholarship.

KEYWORDS:

• empowerment
• narratives
• sensitive groups
• sensory phenomenology

Acknowledgments

Special thanks are due to Dr. Brenda Bowen, Dr. Jeffery McCarthy, Emerson Andrews, Laurie Mecham, and Kailey Luzbetak for making this research possible. Additionally, we are indebted to the authors for their permission to include excerpts from their manuscripts in the analysis and publication of this study. Their ability to put a voice to the experiences of living with poor quality in Salt Lake City is testament to power of individuals as they confront pressing environmental challenges.

Additional information

Funding

The Real People, Real Stories narratives project was funded through matching support from University of Utah's Global Change & Sustainability Center, Environmental Humanities graduate program, and Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund.