‘As relevant as banning polo in Greenland’: the absence of ethnographic insight into country sports in the UK

Abstract

The article argues for the reinvigoration of sociological and ethnographic interest in the rural. It makes this case in three stages. First, Newby’s work is used to demonstrate early ethnographic insight into the rural. The second stage then critiques the missed ethnographic opportunities in contemporary qualitative studies of country sports. Finally, new empirical visual research findings on gamekeeping in the UK are introduced to demonstrate what an ethnographic approach can bring to rural studies. It concludes with the argument that the contested and differentiated nature of the British countryside warrants greater sociological interest, and that ethnographic research is well positioned to offer rich insights.