Classics Revisited: ‘Muddy glee’ ‐ What geography fieldwork means in the current moment

Abstract

This editorial introduces a Classics Revisited collection within which a range of invited authors have used Louise Bracken and Emma Mawdsley's paper, ‘“Muddy glee”: Rounding out the picture of women and physical geography fieldwork’, as inspiration for reflection and to broaden the debate around geography fieldwork. Published in 2004, ‘Muddy glee’ sought to engage with feminist critiques of the masculinist endeavour of fieldwork, whilst trying to reclaim some of the more nuanced, positive aspects of women in fieldwork. This editorial introduces the classic paper, reflects on fieldwork access today and the role of the RGS‐IBG in helping to shape good practice and briefly introduces the collection of papers that together form the special section.

Disability and gender in the history of geographical exploration: Understanding Isabella Bird Bishop as a disabled geographer

“…Many forms of geographical research also assume that the geographer has a mobile body. A growing number of scholars have studied how dominant fieldwork practices in contemporary geography discriminate against people with disabilities (e.g., Hall & Healey, 2005; Lawrence & Dowey, 2022; Leyland et al., 2022; Rose, 2022; Tucker & Horton, 2019). Such writings have examined how disabled people experience and navigate these barriers and explored ways to make fieldwork more inclusive.…”