"We Are a Community": Creating Gemeinschaft in a Gesellschaft World

Recent research has examined the recreational activity of long-distance hiking by focusing on the sociality and social practices of hikers on the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails. While this line of research has identified... [ view full abstract ]

Recent research has examined the recreational activity of long-distance hiking by focusing on the sociality and social practices of hikers on the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails. While this line of research has identified what we refer to as nested subcultures within a larger long-distance hiking subculture, we argue that the hiking community on the Appalachian Trail is more cohesive than that on the Pacific Crest Trail due to a higher degree of social integration among hikers. Analysis of ethnographic field notes and interviews with 72 long-distance hikers will be grounded in a discussion of Emile Durkheim’s need for social integration and Tonnies’ concepts of gemeinschaft and gesellschaft as groups form and function as communities of interest.