Speaker
Description
This conference presents the experiences of those who self-identified as having recovered from a substance-use disorder and who integrated running into this process. Adopting a carnal sociology lens (Wacquant 2015), the researcher-participant relationship was embodied through 22 running semi-directed interviews (Esmonde, 2020) in the Vancouver area (Canada). During these mobile interviews, we examined: 1) the symbolic systems associated with running; 2) the embodied psychosocial, existential suffering of running; 3) the sensate experience of the interview, including rhythms of the body and engagement with the environment; 4) the development of running skills; 5) the sedimented nature of the senses, suffering and skills, which build upon one another in the context of the larger temporal structure of one’s life. From this, we deduced that running implicated: 1) a symbolic importance of milestone achievements (time/distance goals, races) as measures of growth; 2) a process of connecting with one’s body and with the environment, likened to meditation; 3) contrasts and parallels between the body’s suffering in addiction and in running; 4) an evolution of one’s relationship to running across a lifetime, alongside changes in substance use. In conclusion, while running had become central to life it was characterized as a source of connection which enriched life, in contrast to the disconnection associated with the historical centrality of substances. From a carnal sociological perspective, this was understood as a developing a network of relationships that extended out from the body, embodying a connection to the world.
