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Parkour NZ and How the New Zealand Community Involves Itself Ii in the Politics of Parkour’S Global Institutionalisation

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Parkour NZ and How the New Zealand Community Involves Itself Ii in the Politics of Parkour’S Global Institutionalisation http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/ Research Commons at the University of Waikato Copyright Statement: The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). The thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author’s right to be identified as the author of the thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. You will obtain the author’s permission before publishing any material from the thesis. Making the Jump: Examining the Glocalisation of Parkour in Aotearoa New Zealand A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Health, Sport, and Human Performance at The University of Waikato by DAMIEN LAWRENCE PUDDLE 2019 Abstract Once a niche physical pastime of a small group of men in the urban suburbs of France, parkour is now a global phenomenon. Parkour provides an ideal context to investigate contemporary youth, and adoptees of this primarily youthful culture, and their increasingly connected experiences. Using a social constructionist approach, this research explores the global and local influences that affect the experiences of parkour practitioners in New Zealand and contribute to the establishment of parkour in New Zealand. I draw on multiple qualitative methods of inquiry, including 30 in-depth interviews with a diverse group of New Zealand practitioners, participant observations, a digital ethnography on social media, as well as my personal reflections as a parkour practitioner and community insider. I implement three different theoretical perspectives to understanding the glocalisation (Robertson, 1995, 2012) of parkour in New Zealand, with each one helping to unpack specific elements of the parkour experience. In my first empirical chapter I draw on Appadurai’s (1990, 1996) model of global cultural flows which provides a framework to introduce and understand the various macro movements of people, media, technology, ideas, as well as the physical landscape that underpins the broad experiences of New Zealand practitioners. In the second I adopt a mobilities approach (Sheller & Urry, 2006; Urry, 2007) to ask questions about how parkour participation is experienced differently by core and marginalised members of its community, informing experiences of gender and ethnicity. In the third and final empirical chapter I draw upon Ritzer’s (2003a, 2007) concept of ‘globalisation of nothing’ to facilitate an exploration of the development of Parkour NZ and how the New Zealand community involves itself ii in the politics of parkour’s global institutionalisation. These accounts demonstrate that there are concurrent examples of universality and particularity as New Zealand practitioners negotiate between their global and local parkour experiences. This research suggests that an appreciation of glocalised experiences is essential for understanding the ways in which adherents of contemporary youth cultures like parkour make sense of their lives in an increasingly connected and globalised world. Keywords: parkour, globalisation, glocalisation, mobilities, New Zealand iii Acknowledgements I first want to give a heartfelt thank you to my supervisors Belinda Wheaton and Holly Thorpe. You have both been such excellent guides on this sociological research journey. Thank you for being patient with me, knowing when to give encouraging words and when to push me to dig deeper and reach further, and for always giving me your time and energy. Despite ups and downs the overall PhD process has been a dream run and I couldn’t have asked for a better team. I am immensely grateful to the University of Waikato and Faculty of Health, Sport and Human Performance for my doctoral scholarship, without which I could not have undertaken this research. Thank you to my fellow PhD colleagues, in particular, Neftalie, Julie, Nida, and Tom. I have really appreciated your input and friendship these last three years. You’re all stellar academics and it has been a privilege to get to work alongside all of you. Thank you also to the rest of the staff on floors six and seven who helped make the process an enjoyable one. All my love to my beautiful wife Nicole. Even when things were at their toughest you were always by my side. To Keelan and Rylee. You have been such wonderful cheerleaders and I look forward to cheering you on in your various adventures to come. Blessings to my mum and dad, Jonathan and Elliot, extended family and all my friends (especially the Village Church small group) for their ongoing encouragement, prayers, and support that helped me get to, and get through, this journey. I love you all. Thank you to the parkour community in New Zealand. To Barnz for first introducing me to parkour back in 2008, and to everyone that I have trained with iv over these last eleven years. I have had innumerable fun, challenging, and character building experiences with you and look forward to even more in the years to come. I am so appreciative to everyone who was part of this project and was happy to share their lives with me. I couldn’t have done it without you. Finally, thank you God for being my rock. You are a firm foundation. v Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................... vi List of Figures .................................................................................................. x List of Tables .................................................................................................. xii Prologue ......................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One – Introduction to Parkour and Aotearoa New Zealand ................. 4 Research Questions ......................................................................................... 7 Introducing and Explaining Parkour ................................................................. 8 Positioning Aotearoa New Zealand in a Globalised World ............................ 13 Parkour in Aotearoa New Zealand ................................................................. 19 Thesis Overview ............................................................................................. 22 Chapter Two – Literature Review: Action Sports, Boundary Object Theory, and Glocalisation ........................................................................................... 27 Introduction to Action Sports ........................................................................ 28 Jumping into the Literature: Action Sports and Parkour Research Themes ........................................................................................................... 30 Negotiations and Perceptions of Space .................................................. 32 Embodiment and Perceptions of Self...................................................... 35 Experiences and Understandings of Risk ................................................ 37 Institutionalisation, Commercialisation, and Professionalisation .......... 41 Gender and Inclusion .............................................................................. 43 Understanding and Categorising Parkour ...................................................... 46 Boundary Object Theory and Categorising the Unbounded ................... 53 Approaches for Exploring Understandings of Globalisation .......................... 60 vi Understandings of Power .............................................................................. 67 Identifying and Addressing the Gaps ............................................................. 67 Chapter Three – A Methodology for Examining Physical and Digital Lives ....... 71 Epistemology & Research Paradigm .............................................................. 71 Insider Research ............................................................................................ 74 Data Collection .............................................................................................. 77 Participant Recruitment ......................................................................... 77 Field Sites................................................................................................ 81 Qualitative Methods .............................................................................. 81 Data Analysis Approach ............................................................................... 101 Transcription and Review ..................................................................... 101 Approach to Analysis ............................................................................ 102 NVivo .................................................................................................... 103 Coding Methods ................................................................................... 105 Reading and Writing as Analysis .......................................................... 106 Credibility ....................................................................................................
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