Purpose of project

I would like to do an ethnographic study on members of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG) for my undergraduate honours thesis in anthropology. Members of the ACMG are internationally recognized professional alpine, rock, and backcountry ski guides. In particular, I am interested in the professional guiding community in Canmore, Alberta. I would like to take an exploratory approach to ACMG occupational culture and, in the process, learn about members lifestyle and identity because I believe these aspects are directly influenced by their affiliation with the ACMG. Furthermore, I want to explore the boundaries between work, leisure and nature according to ACMG members. Since industrialization, contemporary Euro-Western society has made a distinction between work, recreation and nature. Work is seen as being a human activity that manipulates the environment and is performed outside of nature. Nature, in contrast, is often associated with pristine wilderness that is untouched by humans except for outdoor leisure or recreation activities. Professional guiding becomes a site of contestation because it is work that is recreationally based and performed in nature. I am interested in the ways in which ACMG members make sense of the unique work they perform characterised by exploration, risk, physical skill, and judgement in a ‘natural environment’. I plan to get to know and interview, in a semi-structured manner, approximately seven ACMG members while visiting Canmore for part of April and May 2013. I think my plan is feasible because I am an outdoor enthusiast with several previously established professional guide contacts from Canmore.My objectives for this project are to get to experience anthropological fieldwork, including participant observation, interviews, and data analysis, in an applied setting. I would like to focus my research questions on the ‘nature’ of professional guiding work and ACMG members particular conceptions of their line of work. As such I will ask questions about the ACMG, occupational culture and identity, lifestyles associated with professional guiding and most centrally, the boundaries between work, recreation and nature. My key questions will be:Lifestyle: What is the daily life for ACMG mountain guides, including the daily tasks and routines performed during the guiding season?Relationships: What sorts of relationships do members have with other members? What are their relationships like with family and friends?Occupation: What is the nature and the details of ACMG members occupations?Identity: How does being a member of the ACMG influence their identity? Do ACMG members share similar characteristics? Nature: How do ACMG members understand their workplace in outdoor spaces? Do they differentiate work with recreation and leisure?I suspect I will encounter narratives embedded within the larger Euro-Western society such as capitalism, individualism and masculinity. However, I also assume to find accounts that identify strongly with the counter-culture movement because professional guiding is an alternative career path

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