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Reading Discussion
Questions Note: as mentioned in class, the first article on the syllabus by Irene Ateljevic and Stephen Doorne has been made optional, and is not covered in the questions below. 1. Boissevain usefully places tourists in the context of the many forms of population movements that have become common in an age of globalization. What distinctive qualities do tourists have? Why does Boissevain consider cultural tourists to be the most intrusive? Thinking about the range of tourist types, do you agree? 2. What are the five "strategies" of cultural protection that Boissevain identifies? Can you think of any others? 3. Boissevain's strategies appear to be mainly defensive--to protect local culture and ways against outsiders. Based on the rest of this course so far (including the other readings for this week), are there other strategies connected with tourism that are not so purely defensive and so narrowly directed against tourists? 4. The article by Abbink about the Suri in Ethiopia presents what may be a defining extreme case of "resistance" to tourism. What do you think is going on here? Is this a strategy of cultural protection as Boissevain discusses it or something else? And what kinds of tourist motivations are involved? Do tourists have a "right" to see groups that don't want to be seen? 4. The article by Estellie Smith is a useful reminder, after reading Boissevain and Abbink, that the "local community" is part of a broader system of social stratification and is very likely stratified itself. This raises the issue of how the specific interests of elites--both national and local--may shape tourism development in ways that mainly benefit themselves. In other words, the problem of tourism's impact may lie less with tourists than with other nationals. What are Smith's basic arguments about this? 5. The articles by Fisher on the Sherpa and Adams on the Toraja suggest that local people may be able to shape tourism's impact in ways that mostly benefit local identity and culture. This may strengthen existing traditions or effect changes desired by subgroups within the local communities. Be prepared to discuss the complexities of these processes as exemplified in these two articles. 6. Looking ahead towards the final paper: what kinds of considerations about the impact of tourism and the strategies available to local peoples would you want to take into account in your "personal travel strategy"?
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