ABSTRACT
Introduction and review of literature Idealized versions of rurality are common throughout the western world. Despite the fact that many people experience rural life differently, the most powerful imaginings of the rural are as a tranquil but hard-working, caring, close-knit community with an open, spacious and safe environment (Valentine 1997). This cultural construction of the countryside, particularly in England, is often termed ‘the rural idyll’. More recently, however, it has been acknowledged in academic literature that young people encounter widely disparate experiences and contexts in negotiating rural lives (Panelli 2002). It is therefore important to take account of the ‘broader cultural and political processes that shape young people’s understandings of rurality and/or their own identit[ies]’ (Panelli 2002: 114, note that Panelli originally used the term ‘identity’). The purpose of this chapter, then, is to examine, from a sociocultural perspective, the diverse experiences of the Australian rural young people in the Life Activity Project, particularly as these relate to their participation in physical activities and their understandings of health and fitness.
