In Hillary's Steps - New Zealand's Adventure Culture : A Bourdieusian Exploration

Adventure tourism is a rapidly growing area in the tourism industry. New Zealand, particularly Queenstown, is portrayed as the 'adventure capital of the world'. Much of the adventure tourism research has emphasised conceptual frameworks and activity types, with minimal investigation of socio- cultural understandings. Guided by the ideas of sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu, this book focuses on the evolving social understandings of New Zealand's adventure culture. The research interrogates the practices and narratives of 12 socially legitimised adventurers. They range from 1953's Mt. Everest hero, Sir Edmund Hillary to adventure tourism innovator, Bungy Jumping A. J. Hackett. These 12 adventurers with distinction represent the contested adventure social space, ranging from excitement thrill to survival epic. It is argued the available, inclusive, and socially legitimised Bungy Jump experience has transformed understandings. The transformation highlighting mythologized social misrepresentations of misadventure, exclusivity, and the extraordinary. Importantly the book applies Bourdieu's holistic individual/social conceptualisation to the adventure phenomena.