Critical reflection

Environmentalism

The practice of off-roading is often related to notions of environmentalism. In these cases, off-roading is usually understood as being especially damaging to the environment (Deidun 2016). However, more recently, overlanding is often coined as a more environmentally friendly alternative to flying.

In my research there were some considerations for environment, like not driving off the tracks or cleaning up rubbish after yourselves so parks would not be closed; But because my interlocutors weren’t all too concerned with the idea that their vehicles might not be the best thing for the environment, environmentalism did not become a research focus, and the engagement in this regard was minimal. However, while I was a passenger of Kaeleen, on Bribie Island, I did get an insight in why environmental factors might be important. While parked, two park rangers pulled up to the rather muddy Hummer H3, asking to see the 4wd access permit that is required on the island. The mud on the Hummer spiked their interest, since the 4wd tracks on the island are completely made up off sand. After Kaeleen assured them that she definitely hadn’t been off the track at Bribie Island, the rangers told us that the vehicle should be washed after leaving an off-roading area, to prevent the spread of invasive species, whose seeds can be embedded in the mud on 4-wheel drives.

Off-roading has also been critiqued by environmentalists because the practice can cause erosion and disturb flora and fauna. Bourdeau (2004, 13) even notes off-roading for leisure as a secondary human need, that should be placed after the obligation not to harm the environment.

Even though the off-roading community largely sticks to the ‘leave no trace’ (Vagias & Powell 2010, 22) principle, especially condemning littering, I’ve encountered quite some people that do not believe in man-made global warming. Many off-roaders are not concerned with the effects of their diesels exhaust gasses, and making fun of Greta Thunberg was a running gag as evidenced by the clip below. Although I do not share in the believe that climate change is not man made, and understand that there is plenty of credible evidence that shows that dumping smoke out of your exhaust is damaging for the environment. I chose not to engage my research interlocutors on this topic. As I did not believe this would be particularly constructive to building a relationship with interlocutors, especially the few interlocutors who did not believe climate change was not man made.

Gender

One critique I got on my audio-visual material is that it depicted a very ‘masculine’ form of off-road driving, which somewhat marginalized the few women I did engage with. Hamilton & Barbato (2005, 5) state that Australian 4WD culture indeed is very dominated by males, and Bishop (1996, 262) argues that the rugged masculine fantasies of the outback often overshadow, and marginalize, the less masculine forms of engaging with off-roading. In my research I was aware that off-roading culture was very male dominated; so, I made it a point to try and engage with women only 4-wheel-drive groups. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and other setbacks, I did not manage to engage with this group to the extent where I could gather significant ethnographic material with them. This left me in a position where much of my ethnographic material is indeed embedded in rather masculine off-roading engagement.

This piece thus does little to help the perception of off-roading move into a less masculine position, and thus does nothing to prevent any possible marginalisation based on this masculine tradition. I’d argue though that trying to obscure the masculine nature of the interaction, would not be ethical. Showing that this research, done by a young (white) male researcher, was constructed within masculine interaction, opens the door for research that makes a point of constructing a similar approach within less masculine interaction. In the future I’d certainly advice researchers to focus on female off-roaders more, to perhaps bring a more balanced (from a gender point of view) account of off-roading. But unfortunately, this research did not accomplish that.

I would be wary of arguing that off-roading is inherently masculin. Kaeleen and Kristy show clearly that engaging with off-roading is not only for men, and without a better understanding of gender relations within Australia, it is hard for me to gauge the gender characteristics of off-roading. During the research I have not focussed on gender beyond attempting to do research with a women-only 4-wheel driving club with the goal of constructing some form of equal representation, as three months is too short to attempt to cover all aspects of off-roading. Additionally, when I arrived in Australia, I was not specifically equipped to engage with research in the off-roading, car-scene, or Australian context. However, I have specifically made a point of including an interaction I had with Kaeleen on Bribie Island in regards to gender, in order not to leave this important societal topic undiscussed completely. People should be aware of gender issues within any context, including off-roading, even if this research is ill equipped to analyse gender concepts within its material.

Indigenous people

Australia has a large indigenous population, which rights and needs are largely ignored (Porter 2017, 562). It would thus be remiss of me not to mention issues of land use and aboriginal ownership in ethnographic research into Australian off-roading.

As many trails and tracks date back to colonial times, many of them are historical sites of conflict between colonialists and the native people. The canning stock route is an example of the violent conflicts that occurred in relation to the activity on these routes, and that history is still relevant today (Blair & James 2016, 76). Access to the Canning stock route is now regulated, through permits, by the local aboriginal people, something that is desired by aboriginal people in many more instances (Blair & James 2016, 75).

Even though in some places official legislation exists that protects aboriginal lands from unauthorised access, and recognises traditional interests and aboriginal ownership, this legislation is often ineffective (Porter 2017, 560). The aboriginal case has been argued for years (Porter 2017, 557), but even if legislation is drafted, often there is no change in spatial, industry and educational planning, rendering the aboriginal rights silenced (Porter 2017, 562).

Shan Jackson, one of my participants, is an aboriginal man. He made me (more) aware of the issues related to ingenious populations, land use, and off-roading. As with the topic of gender, I was not specifically equipped to engage with the topic of indigenous people and land use, during this research. I have not engaged with people, or places, that are particularly involved with the discussion of land use and indigenous rights, but I made a point off providing the traditional names whenever I provided English (often colonial) names within the film. With the specific goal of making people aware that land use is often contested within the Australian context. It is important to note that indigenous/traditional lands do not have fixed, clearly definable borders. I used the map provided by the Australian government, to estimate where certain shots have been filmed, but process is in no way flawless.