Towards a new political economy of global tourism (original) (raw)

Political Economy of Tourism: A Critical Perspective

Political economy, in its various guises and transfigurations, is a research philosophy that presents both social commentary and theoretical progress and is concerned with a number of different topics: politics, regulation and governance, production systems, social relations, inequality and development amongst many others. As a critical theory, political economy seeks to provide an understanding of societies – and of the structures and social relations that form them – in order to evoke social change toward more equitable conditions. Despite the early influence of critical development studies and political economy on tourism research, political economy has received relatively little attention in tourism research. Political Economy and Tourism the first volume to bring together different theoretical perspectives and discourse in political economy related to tourism. Written by leading scholars, the text is organised into three sequential Parts, linked by the principle that ‘the political’ and ‘the economic’ are intimately connected. Part one presents different approaches to political economy, including Marxist political economy, regulation, comparative political economy, commodity chain research and alternative political economies; Part two links key themes of political economy, such as class, gender, labour, development and consumption, to tourism; and Part three examines the political economy at various geographical scales and focuses on the outcomes and processes of the political act of planning and managing tourism production. This engaging volume provides insights and alternative critical perspectives on political economy theory to expand discussions of tourism development and policy in the future. Political Economy and Tourism is a valuable text for students, researchers and academics interested in Tourism and related disciplines.

The political economy of tourism development: A critical review

Annals of Tourism Research

This paper reviews the varying theoretical approaches in political economy and their application to the analysis of tourism development. It examines the shifting focus of enquiry and traces the evolution of the political economy of tourism from an earlier generation of predominantly technical, empirically-driven analyses of tourism's contribution to economic development through to the various strands of development theory that have influenced and which continue to shape the political economy of tourism today. Particular emphasis is given to recent theoretical advances in which the application of cultural political economy and Marxian thinking herald a promising future for the political economy of tourism.

Transnational Political Economy and the Development of Tourism: A Critical Approach

Social Sciences, 2019

Following a Marxist and, more specifically, a global capitalism perspective, this paper outlines the peculiar characteristics of tourism to argue that the recent developments of this sector have prominently contributed to the transnational integration and global accumulation of capital. These developments are explored by using a Marxist conceptual framework, including class and value relations, within a broader ecological context. Taking into account the particular pattern of development and rapid growth of tourism in recent decades, we examine the implications for the uneven and combined development of global capitalism. More specifically, we examine whether the growth of tourism may sufficiently counteract the global over-accumulation crisis, as well as the particular ways in which capital can extract and appropriate rent from tourism. It is broadly argued that the development of tourism tends to increase the unevenness, as well as the inequalities and the instability, of global capitalism and while it seems to apparently relax the current over-accumulation crisis, it rather tends to further exacerbate the unfolding socio-ecological crisis.

More than an “industry”: The forgotten power of tourism as a social force

Tourism Management, 2006

This paper argues that in the current neo-liberal era, the discourse of tourism as an ''industry'' has overshadowed other conceptualisations of the tourism phenomenon. An argument is developed that this discourse serves the needs and agendas of leaders in the tourism business sector. However, the author desires to revive an earlier understanding of tourism that predates the neoliberal era. Tourism is in fact a powerful social force that can achieve many important ends when its capacities are unfettered from the market fundamentalism of neoliberalism and instead are harnessed to meet human development imperatives and the wider public good. Examining the human rights aspects of tourism, investigating phenomena such as ''social tourism'', exploring a few ''non-western'' perspectives of tourism and outlining some of the tantalising promise that tourism holds, this paper attempts to revive and reinforce a wider vision of tourism's role in societies and the global community. It is argued that it is critical for tourism academics, planners and leaders to support such a vision if tourism is to avoid facing increasing opposition and criticism in a likely future of insecurity and scarcity. r

Tourism politics or tourism geopolitics? Demarcating two similarsounding research fields

The exceptional growth of tourism has converted it to a significant economic sector, reflecting characteristics of antagonisms on various levels, such as economic dependence and power projection. The present paper is a first attempt to approach the research differences between two research fields, which are not distinct enough yet. Moreover, the authors attempt a contribution to the delimitation of the research subject Geopolitics of Tourism, in the light of the classical geopolitical view. Firstly (Section 1), the role of the state in tourism policy will be briefly reviewed, before presenting (Section. 2 & 3), comparatively the two research fields under discussion and (Section 4) the authors' approach. Finally (Section 5) it will be shown how the methodological framework of Systemic Geopolitical Analysis can contribute to approach tourism as a geopolitical factor of power redistribution.

Political Impacts of Tourism: A Critical Analysis of Literature

Atna Journal of Tourism Studies, 2021

Tourism and politics are inexorably allied. There exists adequate literature on the nexus between political ideologies and public institutions yet, there is hardly any explicit attention paid to the field of tourism research. It may perhaps due to the impression that ‘politics is all about power.’ In fact, Gramscian’ s notion of ‘power-over’ in the context of preserving cultural hegemony confines the prospects of political discourse to ‘power-itself’. This notion was contested through a poststructuralist thought, ‘power-to’, proposed by Michel Foucault. Thus, the present paper extends the poststructuralist thought by exploring the potential areas in politics that shape the outlook of the tourism industry through a critical analysis of literature. The study argues that the associated political effects are critical to the field of tourism at the same time the tourism industry is also a potential means to promote and showcase the political ideology.

The political economy of mass tourism and its contradictions

Mass tourism in a small world, 2017

Drawing on historical materialism in the Marxian tradition, this chapter focuses on key facets of the political economy of mass tourism (PEMT) and the industrial configurations and political-economic relations that drive the logic of accumulation and development, which impel its expansion in today's networked transnational capitalist economy. The discussion centres on the forces and relations of capitalist development that shape and determine the industrial logic of mass tourism as it expands, diversifies and settles in different parts of the globe, driven by the search for profits and the self-expansion of capital.

Political Economy Dialogues of Tourism in Southeast Asia | A Special Issue Call for Papers |

Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 2023

In this special issue, a critical political economy approach is employed as a central tenet of queries into tourism development in Southeast Asia. The intersection between geopolitics and the political economy, and the manifestation of tourism in this milieu is a mandatory framing. Papers accepted for publication in this special issue must employ either a geopolitical or political economy framework to their analysis of tourism in Southeast Asia. Decoupling political and economic drivers is incongruous given the direct ripple effects they both have on social and ecological outcomes, and how as part of the tourism system, each forms a vital part. Added to that are the overarching geopolitical forces that impinge on the tourism economy in the region, as exemplified by the wide spectrum of crises from the pandemic of 2020-2022, natural hazards, economic recession, and geopolitical tussles, among others. Abstracts of 400-500 words should be emailed to jmcheer@wakayama-u.ac.jp by April 29, 2022.

Politics and Tourism Destination Development: The Evolution of Power

This study takes a temporal perspective on the analysis of politics, power, and tourism destination development. It analyzes past and contemporary consequences of the power relationships among different stakeholders. A qualitative inquiry includes semi-structured in-depth interviews with stakeholders, from local islanders to national-level politicians, complemented by secondary material. After identification of the key tourism stakeholders in the case study area, Maldives, the study details and analyzes, through consideration of contested policy formulation and implementation, why and how stakeholders have sought to gain, hold, and cede power. Accordingly, the study develops theoretical understanding that recognizes and evaluates patterns of stakeholder power dominance, subservience, and decline.