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Abstract
This paper situates the politics of canoeing on inland rivers in England and Wales in the context of property rights and protest repertoires. We argue that the dominance of property rights has created an asymmetrical position that has underpinned riparian rights holders' claims to exclusive use of rivers while simultaneously delegitimizing the apparently equally valid claims of paddlers and others seeking access along rivers. Utilizing a netnographic approach we interrogate the adopted cultural positions of canoeists as ‘roving bandit’ and ‘social pirate’ through a study of online discussion. By adopting identities as ‘bandit’ and ‘pirate’, paddlers seek to unsettle the hegemony over property relations exercised by anglers to win concessions for use and enjoyment of rivers. Informed by Mancur Olson's theory of property settlement by outlaws, we argue that these identities do more to substantiate the claims of anglers to possession than further the cause of paddlers to securing greater access. In order to substantiate their claims, paddlers need to shift the point of their attack from that characterized by the roving and ephemeral bandit to that of the settled ruler, in the process establishing a claim over inland waters that is as strong as that already imposed by the anglers.
Notes
1 Posted by madocks on 29 July 2007, UK Rivers Guide Book web forum, www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk.
2 Moc Morgan, ‘“Pirates” Threaten Peace and Safety of Our Rivers’, Western Mail, 5 February 2008.
3 CitationFranklin, ‘Naturalizing Sports’.
4 CitationCox and Winter, ‘The Beleaguered “Other”’; CitationDarby, Landscape and Identity.
5 See CitationChurch, Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Negotiating Recreational Access’; CitationGilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Power to the Paddlers?’.
6 CitationOlson, Power and Prosperity; see also CitationParker and Wragg, ‘Networks, Agency and (De)stabilization’.
7 Darby, Landscape and Identity; Parker, Citizenship.
8 See Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Power to the Paddlers?’, with respect to paddling on the River Dee, for example; CitationParker, Citizenship, 107
9 Parker, Citizenship.
10 CitationParker and Ravenscroft, ‘Land, Rights and the Gift’.
11 CitationWilson and White, ‘Revive the Pride’; CitationDavis-Delano and Crosset, ‘Using Social Movement Theory’.
12 Church, Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Negotiating Recreational Access’.
13 Olson, Power and Prosperity.
14 CitationCoalter, ‘Angling and Canoeing’; CitationTelling and Smith, Public Right of Navigation.
15 CitationLocke, Second Treatise on Government.
16 CitationLocke, Second Treatise on Government., 336.
17 http://www.talkangling.co.uk/upload/other_angling_chat/5771-anglers_call_canoe_union_get_real.html/, accessed 5 July 2008.
18 CitationRoberts, ‘A Canoe-Related Incident’.
19 CitationRoberts, ‘A Canoe-Related Incident’.
20 CitationRoberts, ‘A Canoe-Related Incident’.
21 Church, Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Negotiating Recreational Access’; Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Power to the Paddlers?’.
22 See CitationUniversity of Brighton Consortium, Water-Based Sport; CitationUniversity of Brighton Consortium, A Strategic Plan for Water Related Recreation in the South West Region; CitationUniversity of Brighton Consortium, A Strategic Plan for Water Related Recreation in the East of England Region.
23 Olson, Power and Prosperity, 1.
24 CitationOppenheimer, The State.
25 CitationOlson, Logic of Collective Action.
26 Olson, Power and Prosperity, 10–11.
27 CitationKozinets, ‘Field Behind the Scene’.
28 Ibid., 64; CitationLanger and Beckman, ‘Sensitive Research Topics’.
29 For some exceptions see CitationMillward, ‘We've All Got the Bug’; CitationMillward, ‘Rebirth of the Football Fanzine’; CitationMorgan, ‘Making Space for Experiences’.
30 See Langer and Beckman, ‘Sensitive Research Topics’; Millward, ‘Rebirth of the Football Fanzine’.
32 CitationGeertz, Interpretation of Cultures.
33 CitationSharf, ‘Beyond Netiquette’, 244.
34 Kozinets, ‘Field Behind the Scene’.
35 CitationGlaser and Strauss, Discovery of Grounded Theory.
36 CitationRavenscroft et al., Improving Access for Canoeing; University of Brighton Consortium, Water-Based Sport; University of Brighton Consortium, A Strategic Plan for Water Related Recreation in the South West Region; University of Brighton Consortium, A Strategic Plan for Water Related Recreation in the East of England Region.
37 See CitationBerry, ‘Internet Research’; CitationBrownlow and O'Dell, ‘Ethical Issues’; CitationLawson, ‘Blurring the Boundaries’.
38 Sharf, ‘Beyond Netiquette’.
39 Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Power to the Paddlers?’.
40 Bakardjieva and Feenberg, ‘Involving the Virtual Subject’; CitationMarkham, Life Online.
41 Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Power to the Paddlers?’.
42 Posted by callwild on 16 July 2007 to UKRGB.
43 Posted by TheKrikketWars on 16 July 2007 to UKRGB.
44 Posted by richard e on 18 July 2007 to UKRGB.
45 Posted by Slaphappy on 7 February 2008 to UKRGB.
46 Posted by Jules on 13 February 2008 to UKRGB.
47 Posted by buck 197 on 16 July 2007 to UKRGB.
48 See CitationShoard, This Land is Ours, for example.
49 Posted by Madocks on 28 July 2007 to UKRGB.
50 Posted by buck197 on 29 July 2007 to UKRGB.
51 Posted by morsey on 29 July 2007 to UKRGB.
52 Posted by bala boater on 29 July 2007 to UKRGB.
53 Posted by Dave Manby on 29 July 2007 to UKRGB.
54 Posted by ERU on 29 July 2007 to UKRGB.
55 Olson, Power and Prosperity.
56 Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Power to the Paddlers?’.
57 CitationCobb and Fox, ‘Living Outside the System?’.
58 Posted by Pete the kayaker on 26 February 2008 to UKRGB.
59 Posted by clarky999 on 10 March 2008 to UKRGB.
60 Posted by Jim Pullen on 10 March 2008 to UKRGB.
61 Posted by Tom_Laws on 15 July 2007 to UKRGB.
62 Posted by StoneWeasel on 20 October 2005 to UKRGB.
63 Posted by Pete the kayaker on 20 October 2005 to UKRGB.
64 Posted by Frank B on 14 December 2006 to UKRGB.
66 Moc Morgan, ‘“Pirates” Threaten Peace and Safety of Our Rivers, Western Mail, 5 February 2008.
67 Posted by Adrian Cooper on 5 February 2008 to UKRGB.
68 Posted by Unstabler on 5 February 2008 to UKRGB.
69 Posted by Matt R on 5 February 2008 to UKRGB.
70 Posted by morsey on 6 February 2008 to UKRGB.
71 Posted by Frank B on 8 March 2008 to UKRGB.
72 Posted by Garth on 11 March 2008 to UKRGB.
73 Posted by Gupster on 11 March 2008 to UKRGB.
74 Posted by Unstabler on 11 March 2008 to UKRGB.
75 Olson, Power and Prosperity.
76 This argument has been exercised in the defence of other forms of banditry and piracy. Graffiti artists have been considered less a sign of urban decay than an indicator of the presence of a ‘creative class’ central to the economic regeneration of urban areas. Concerns over anti-social behaviour are set aside as authorities highlight the visual merit and cultural value of the artform. Other ‘deviants’ have been discussed in terms of their ability to create public goods. Rojek argues, for instance, that forms of ‘net banditry’, in particular peer-to-peer electronic file sharing, can contribute to wider outcomes of social inclusion, empowerment and distributive justice. While their practices raise important political and ethical questions about the justness of international regimes of property, Mason argues that ‘punk capitalists’ – from hackers, to hip-hop artists, to open-source publishers – should be embraced for their ability to fashion identities, create new products and concomitant forms of consumption. See CitationRojek, ‘P2P Leisure Exchange’; CitationMason, Pirate's Dilemma; also, CitationLeadbeater, We-Think.
77 CitationDoherty, Paterson and Seel, Direct Action.
78 See CitationJones, ‘Logic of Expressive Collective Action’.
79 See also Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Power to the Paddlers?’.
80 CitationGallant, ‘Brigandage’, 40.
81 CitationHobsbawm, Bandits, 19.
82 CitationParker, ‘Rights’.
83 CitationBey, ‘Temporary Autonomous Zone’.
84 CitationBey, ‘Temporary Autonomous Zone’., 406.
85 CitationHegel, Elements of the Philosophy, 73–102.
86 CitationDeleuze and Guattari, A Thousand Plateaus.
87 Gilchrist and Ravenscroft, ‘Power to the Paddlers?.
89 Bey, ‘Temporary Autonomous Zone’, 412.
90 CitationCrouch and Parker, ‘“Digging-Up” Utopia?’.
91 See Parker, ‘Rights’; CitationWheaton, ‘From the Pavement’.
92 CitationLand, ‘Flying the Black Flag’; CitationMackie, ‘Welcome the Outlaw’.
93 CitationFoucault, ‘Powers and Strategies’.
94 Parker, ‘Rights’.