Search Results (181)

This study examines the rituals and identity formation processes of a women’s motorcycle group in Adana (Türkiye) through an autoethnographic perspective. While motorcycles are often associated with male-dominated cultures, women riders have increasingly established their own communities and collective practices. Drawing on participant observation, the study introduces the concept of “ethnomotography” to describe autoethnographic research conducted within motorcycle culture. Data were collected through long-term participation in group activities, meetings, rallies, and everyday interactions as a member of the group between September 2022 and June 2024. The findings demonstrate that group identity is constructed and maintained through a series of rituals that resemble “rites of passage”. These rituals include initiation processes, the symbolic use of club insignia and vests, participation in weekly meetings and rallies, collective social responsibility projects, and mechanisms regulating membership continuity. The findings demonstrate that these rituals function as cultural mechanisms through which belonging, solidarity, and collective identity are produced. At the same time, the study shows that while the women’s motorcycle group provides an important space for mutual support, visibility, and empowerment within a predominantly male motorcycle culture, it also selectively reproduces organizational norms commonly associated with motorcycle clubs. Finally, the study suggests that belonging may persist beyond formal organizational membership, indicating that ritual participation produces identities that extend beyond institutional boundaries. By introducing ethnomotography as a perspective for studying motorcycle cultures from within, this research contributes to discussions of ritual, gender and identity. Full article

Co-design is a term commonly used to describe involving people with lived experience in program, policy, and research design and its outcomes. However, the implementation of co-design is inconsistent due to a lack of an agreed-upon definition, framework, and set of principles for application. In this paper, the co-authors, as practising policy advocates and co-designers, aim to develop a set of guiding principles for genuine co-design with children and young people with disability in Australia. The paper first synthesises the existing Australian evidence from youth and disability scholarship, best practice approaches, and case studies of co-design projects recently undertaken where the co-authors are based at Children and Young People with Disability Australia, and then validates this evidence base through collaborative autoethnographic reflections of the co-authors’ collective experience in a co-design team. Drawing together themes and insights from this process, we propose four relationally driven guiding principles for genuine co-design that can be applied in Australian as well as international settings: 1. personalised: building trust and safety over time; 2. holistic: embedding co-design across the project lifespan; 3. reflexive: considering and sharing power; and 4. inclusive: prioritising accessibility and diversity. We end with final critical reflections on addressing power relations and ableist structures in genuine co-design with children and young people with disability. Full article

While spirituality and contemplative practices are increasingly invoked in response to environmental crisis, the specific mechanisms by which they may mediate professional ethical action remain underdeveloped. This is particularly evident regarding nuclear harm, an existential planetary threat often siloed from health scholarship. This paper investigates the mediating mechanism of contemplative formation as the analytical link between spiritual ethics and planetary health. By centering this link, we demonstrate how professional nursing identity can be restructured to address existential threats like nuclear harm, which are currently under-integrated in health scholarship. We employed a convergent, integrative design combining a scoping review of the literature published in 2015–2025 with a contemplative autoethnography. The scoping review (n = 39) maps the scholarly evidence of spiritual–ecological constructs, while the autoethnography provides a situated, analytical account of the first author’s professional and spiritual formation. Integration was achieved through a four-step thematic synthesis that explicitly identifies where first-person lived experience and third-person scholarly evidence converge to illuminate the process of ethical integration. Four convergent themes describe the pathways linking contemplative practice to planetary health: (1) embodied practice (somatic resilience); (2) narrative meaning-making (transforming grief into purpose); (3) interconnected ethics (reframing remote harms as proximate responsibilities); and (4) reflective integration (the reflexive weaving of clinical and spiritual identities). The findings reveal that while contemplative traditions offer robust resources for systems thinking and equity, nuclear harm and nursing perspectives remain significantly under-integrated in the current planetary health literature. Contemplative formation functions as the mediating mechanism that turns planetary threats into sustained professional advocacy. The Interbeing Planetary Health Framework provides a pragmatic guide for nursing ethics under existential risks. Full article

This study employs a reflexive autoethnography, guided by flow and place attachment theory, to examine how gaming experiences influence attachments to virtual environments and inspire real-world travel intentions. Data comprise reflexive journal notes written over a 10-month period after playing multiple video games and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis following a hybrid deductive–inductive approach. The analysis identified eight themes across three dimensions: temporal immersion, escapism, narrative immersion, and self-expression under flow; emotional, cognitive, and behavioural attachment under place attachment; and place-induced travel intention as the behavioural outcome. The findings establish flow as a critical antecedent to the development of place attachment within virtual environments. Consistent with emerging scholarship, the study confirms that attachment formation does not require physically tangible places; rather, it can emerge through digitally mediated presence and interaction, indicating that virtual environments are capable of eliciting place attachment. More significantly, it demonstrates that these virtual attachments can fluidly extend toward real places depicted in games, revealing a cross-environmental continuity in attachment processes. The integrated framework thus contributes a novel theoretical proposal linking flow, virtual and real place attachment, and tourism behaviour, an area that remains conceptually fragmented and empirically underdeveloped. Full article

This conceptual and spiritual autoethnographic essay proposes tendering masculinities as a framework for late-life formation that moves men from performance to presence and from control to communion. Drawing on Jungian alchemy (nigredo, albedo, rubedo) and the movements of decolonizing, queering, and befriending, the piece integrates fieldnotes with theological and depth-psychological reflection to articulate three interwoven practices for elderhood: imperfection as belonging, brokenness as illumination, and holding opposites without hardening. The argument reframes masculine strength as reliable, relational tenderness expressed through micro-practices such as grief literacy, “weaponless speech,” soul friendship (anam cara), and collaborative mentorship within families and intergenerational relationships. Implications are offered for chaplaincy, pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, men’s groups, social work, and family or community contexts, with guidance on designing rituals of lament, contemplative listening, and communities of “steady tenderness.” By bridging depth psychology, poetic theology, and lived practice, the essay suggests that tendered masculinities can help families and relational systems cultivate stronger spiritual resilience, counter patterns of domination or disconnection, and contribute to communal healing. Limitations of single-author autoethnography and pathways for applied, practice-based research are noted. Full article

South African universities remain shaped by unresolved colonial inheritances and a deepening neoliberal turn that privileges measurable outputs, competition, and narrow definitions of merit. Within this landscape, Black academics and students often encounter institutional cultures that regulate belonging and constrain transformation. While accounts of the neoliberal university have been richly documented, less attention has been given to mentorship as an everyday institutional practice through which such regimes are reproduced and contested, particularly within professional training contexts. This paper offers a State of the Academy Address through the perspectives of two Black early-career clinical psychologists in academia. Drawing on collaborative autoethnography, a qualitative approach in which researchers use their own lived experiences as data to examine broader cultural patterns, and reflexive thematic analysis (a method of identifying and interpreting patterns of meaning across qualitative data) of structured reflective dialogues, we examine how emerging scholars attempt to re-make academic life through refusal and care. Two themes are presented: promoting mentorship while rejecting gatekeeping, and the tension between knowledge production and scholarly development under metric-driven performativity. The paper appreciates the notions of relationality and relational ethics, which are central to Ubuntu philosophy. Additionally, by centering a Freirean commitment to critical consciousness and empowerment, we argue that mentorship can function as an everyday agency that challenges exclusionary traditions, even as output pressures narrow scholarly formation and deepen the vulnerability of early-career academics. We conclude with implications for policy and practice across departmental, institutional, and sector levels, including the formal recognition of mentorship in workload models, protections for early-career academics against exploitative workload practices, and broader promotion and performance criteria that recognise relational labour, collaborative scholarship, and community-engaged knowledge production. Full article

Language and discourse are central forces shaping representations of self and family creation in adoption narratives. Informed by theorizations of agency, as well as language and legitimacy, two transnational adopted persons engage in a collaborative autoethnography through electronically exchanged letters about the authors’ experiences as international and interracial Korean-American adopted persons. The resulting analysis uncovered how language and identity can intersect in adoption narratives, complicating adopted persons’ stories and their telling of them. The authors also explored the agentive potential of mushfake as hybrid and emerging discourse/Discourse. In narrating their experiences, the authors illuminated how adopted persons and other members of marginalized groups can exercise their agentive authority to take up and demand recognition of self-proclaimed identities which are situated in spaces of in-betweenness and becoming. Full article

Substantial research has been dedicated to the study of transnational students’ language, education, and identity development in order to cultivate their funds of knowledge and to improve their schooling experiences. However, as this Special Issue points out, a more holistic and transdisciplinary approach is needed. The present paper does just this, zooming in on teacher education programs designed to prepare teachers to work with transnational students using transdisciplinary arts-based approaches, and in particular, Augusto Boal’s Forum Theater. Employing collective autoethnography and building on a larger research study that explores participant reflections on experiences engaging in Forum Theater, we reconsider three scenarios from arts-based workshops conducted with transnational learners and preservice/inservice teachers (aka teacher learners). In doing so, we deconstruct exactly how the exploration and brainstorming of effective responses to transnational youth experiences of discrimination, stereotyping, and racism in the Forum Theater workshops are harnessed to help participants understand the psychological, cognitive, and behavioral factors at play that impact transnational youth language, education, and identity development. Findings show how each scenario could lead to greater understanding of transnational youth experiences, and the development of teacher learners’ critical consciousness in working with these students. Full article

This study reviews the ontological and worldview dimensions of the island inhabitants of the Chiloé archipelago in southern Chile and their contribution to sustaining the ecosystem relationships that include them, with a special focus on the intertidal zone. These dimensions act by mediating people’s behaviour when implemented as long-standing traditional customs in a practical way (e.g., gathering or fishing), mitigating potential negative impacts on the environment. Although there are regulations that protect these areas, their cultural heritage, and ancestral techniques, these differ substantially from the actions and effects of other territorial actors engaged in the exploitation of nature. This research simultaneously employs a methodology based on classical ethnographic techniques and an autoethnography conducted by one of the authors of this article, who identifies as Wapiche, a Williche islander. The purpose of this, and the contribution of this collaborative work, is to go beyond the collection of ethnographic data and allow an islander to recount the reflexive processes that occur at the individual, family, and community levels and are not usually taken into account. Full article

Even when designed by and for members of (multiple) oppressed groups, nightlife is generally an unsafe experience. In response to this, awareness teams have emerged internationally in recent years, ensuring that members of these groups can continue to participate in nightlife. Based on semi-structured qualitative interviews with activists in Graz, Austria, contextualised with autoethnography as well as a discourse analysis of policies and recommendations from activists in the broader Austrian and European contexts, I explore in this paper how awareness labour can contribute to transformative justice. I argue that by preventing the most vulnerable members of oppressed groups from being excluded from nightlife and educating everyone who engages with them within nightlife about oppression and privilege, awareness labour sits at the intersection of care and activism. As such, it bears potential to effect social change by teaching a broad segment of society about different practices of coming together that are not based on exploitation, extraction, or oppression. Awareness labour broadens our understanding of activism by intervening in the unjust distribution of care. The paper concludes by proposing areas for further research to determine how to realise the transformative potential of awareness labour. Full article

Background: Grit is often celebrated as a predictor of youth success in sport, but little is known about how it develops over time through social and relational contexts. This study explores how grit forms among youth powerlifters through two developmental trajectories: an externally driven pathway shaped by structured adversity (Outside-In) and an internally driven pathway fueled by self-motivation (Inside-Out). Methods: This analytical autoethnographic study draws on multi-year coaching journals, field notes, and reflective narratives involving four Malaysian youth athletes. Through thematic coding and narrative synthesis, key developmental patterns were identified, and a dual-pathway conceptual model was constructed. Results: The findings revealed that youth from lower-autonomy backgrounds often developed grit through coach-led discipline and adversity (Outside-In), while others showed early self-regulation and purpose-driven persistence (Inside-Out). Both pathways could converge toward internalized grit. The coach–athlete relationship was central in mediating this growth. Some youths later turned outward to uplift others, indicating broader developmental impacts. Conclusions: Grit in youth sport is a socially embedded process. The Dual Pathway Model offers a framework for coaches and educators to cultivate perseverance in diverse youth through both relational support and autonomy development. Full article

International service-learning projects are opportunities for students to experientially learn about sustainable design engineering while they are focused on addressing specific community needs. When paired with auto-ethnographical research methods, students become co-creators in their pedagogical experience. This paper explores the impacts of attending a second international service learning trip for three sustainable design engineering students. Through a trio-ethnographic, ethics-approved study, a three-step reflexive framework was adopted to examine the experiences and the effects of participation in sustainable service learning projects that occurred in Honduras. By examining individual reflections and group discussions, three themes were identified by the students researchers: leadership development, the experience of returning, and enduring impacts on perceptions of sustainability and equity. Incorporating reflective activities before, during, and after international service learning experiences allow students to be more prepared, engaged, and reap long-term benefits. Engaging students in the conception, design, analysis, and writing of the research amplifies the learning experience. This article provides insights into how international service learning experiences shape professional trajectories and the personal growth of sustainable design engineering students. Additionally, it advocates for incorporating students as researchers in educational research. Full article

This study focuses on the site-specific improvisatory dance performance Deconstruction and Reconstruction of the Path of Life, a self-directed and self-performed work in Lhasa’ s sacred space dominated by a huge Buddha statue. It aims to explore how site-specific context and altitude sickness shape performance, and how freedom and meaning are created within limitations. Using auto-ethnography including video documentation, creative journals and reflective observation, this research examines interactions with spatial elements (Xuan paper, Buddha feet, stairs, flowers) and physiological responses to low oxygen. Main findings include that altitude-induced breath difficulty, chest oppression, and movement imbalance became generative forces: breathing rhythm changes (steady-rapid-steady) symbolized life’s struggles, while a “pain-movement-meaning” chain fostered new bodily senses, framing pain as a gateway to spirituality. Rather than treating the space as a static backdrop, this study explores how the material and cultural characteristics of the location actively lead to dance movement choices and choreographic logic under extreme physiological condition. Full article

Many modern zoos maintain charismatic megafauna, such as elephants, as their iconic residents, as these animals have been shown to hold the zoogoers’ gaze more adeptly than demurer animals. This study sought to determine zoo supporters’ perceptions of elephants’ emotions and welfare under conditions in which elephants receive rewards and demonstrate behaviors within elephant–caregiver interactions in a zoo to generate key themes associated with those perceptions and to compare those perceptions to zoo professionals’ through the lens of The Five Domains animal welfare assessment model. This qualitative study employed multiple methodological strategies, including surveys, autoethnography, interviews, and welfare assessments. The article explores two themes that were generated regarding participants’ perceptions: elephants’ autonomy and participation in labor. The discourse of elephant labor in a zoo is timely, as animal labor among domestic animals is a growing topic in social sciences research. Elephants’ welfare was perceived as largely positive, though there was a small number of participants who felt the elephants did not enjoy their labor. Participants’ perceptions were mostly aligned with zoo professionals’ perceptions. As this is the first article to discuss zoo animal labor, it makes a unique contribution to the current literature and may have applications to other species’ labor within zoos. Full article

This manuscript takes the form of a social fiction doctoral application that refuses pretense. Framed as an admissions packet, it blends autoethnography, poetry, and political critique to confront the growing legislative assault on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in higher education. These assaults, though cloaked in new rhetoric, extend a long-standing tradition: the erasure of marginalized epistemologies within doctoral education. Structured as a hybrid dossier, complete with reflective essays, imagined recommendations, and lyrical interludes, the manuscript examines how doctoral programs across varied contexts are either resisting or reinforcing this erasure. Positioned within a comparative framework, it explores how global and national pressures shape institutional responses to anti-DEI mandates and what these tensions reveal about the trajectory of doctoral education. Ultimately, the manuscript challenges the academy to confront its complicity in silencing dissent and to reimagine doctoral study as a crucible for epistemic justice, where knowledge is not policed but pluralized. Full article