Description du sujet de thèse

The thesis will focus on "Hiking and children's socialization in the mountains"
Missions :
The project aims to shed light on the conditions and forms of socialization in mountain natural spaces during childhood. Numerous studies and data document inequalities of access, particularly social and gendered, to these areas, and to the recreational and educational practices that take place there. This study focuses on the case of hiking, a relatively widespread and growing activity (ENPPS, 2020), but one still marked by significant social differences. The doctoral student's survey will use methodological devices to enter what is still a “black box” in the existing literature: how are tastes (or disgust or indifference) for mountain hiking constructed from childhood onwards? Using a methodology combining in situ observations, interviews and quantitative data focused on juvenile uses of these areas, we'll be able to take a closer look at the socialization logics at work and the genesis of social relationships with these natural spaces.
Activities:
Field and population: The study will focus on refuges located between 1h and 3h30 walk from the parking areas, as these are the refuges with the most young hikers.
The population studied will include not only those staying in refuges, but also those bivouacking (in authorized areas near refuges) and those passing through (day hikers), during the summer season, which is the busiest time of year.
Interviews and observations: the qualitative survey, based on interviews and observations, will be carried out in four Alpine refuges, located in different mountain ranges. Observations will focus on the ways in which young people and their companions behave and act during the various periods spent in the huts (meals, games, discovering the natural surroundings, etc.). These observations will also provide an opportunity to conduct interviews with the young people and their guides, in order to gather information about their hiking habits and their relationship with the mountains. Volunteer young people and their parents, as well as tour leaders, will be selected for subsequent life story interviews (some thirty and twenty respectively will be interviewed by the PhD∙e). Finally, participant observations with volunteer hikers, which will involve accompanying them on their hikes, will enable us to analyze the behavior and discourse of young people and their guides during their practice.
Quantitative data: A quantitative questionnaire survey on a larger number of refuges (around twenty) will enable us to reason about a large sample of randonneur∙ses. These questionnaires, together with a count of the “children's fares” recorded by the refuges, will give a more accurate idea of the average frequentation of refuges by young people according to their social characteristics. Access to the field will be facilitated by collaboration with the “Refuges Sentinelles” scheme, in which 35 refuges in the Alps are participating in order to collect data on their use.
Skills required:
Solid training in sociology, with particular emphasis on the sociology of socialization, childhood and physical activities.
Survey experience: mastery of interviewing, observation and questionnaire methods
Knowledge of the environment surveyed (refuges and hiking trails)
Personal skills:
Strong interest in the subject
Ability to work collaboratively
Autonomy
Know-how:
Methodological skills in social science surveys
Writing skills

Contexte de travail

Full-time position for 36 months
Based at the Pacte laboratory, CNRS, Université Grenoble Alpes, Sciences po Grenoble-UGA. The PhD student will be co-supervised by Julien Bertrand (MCF HDR, Université Grenoble Alpes) and Clémence Perrin-Malterre (MCF HDR, Université de Savoie Mont-Blanc, EDYTEM).

Contraintes et risques

Fieldwork partly in moutains