Reflexive tradition

Abstract

This article is based on a qualitative study of young working–class men who are dedicated hunters and hardcore wolf adversaries. Our aim is to make sense of their attitudes and practices regarding the re–appearance of wolves. They see the wolves as impeding their life projects: being hunters and outdoorsmen. Therefore, we discuss attitude formation in the light of theories of identity, paying special attention to the idea that identity formation is strongly affected by individualization in ‘late modernity’. Norwegian media tend to depict rural ways of life as rooted in traditionalism, implying an antagonism between the modern and the traditional along an urban–rural axis. Yet, even if important choices made by the young men include distinct elements of local tradition, these choices are no less reflexive than those made by more mobile peers. The article argues that the young hunters are simultaneously traditional and modern and that they transgress such artificial antagonisms through their everyday practices.