Purchase this article
USD $30.00
Contradictions in Tourism
The Promise and Pitfalls of Ecotourism as a Manifold Capitalist Fix
in Environment and Society
Author:
and
Robert Fletcher
Robert Fletcher
University for Peace rfletcher@upeace.org
Search for other papers by Robert Fletcher in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Robert Fletcher in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Katja Neves
Katja Neves
Concordia University knevesgr@alcor.concordia.ca
Search for other papers by Katja Neves in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Katja Neves in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
USD $0.01
All currencies in US Dollar
This article reviews an interdisciplinary literature exploring the relationship between tourism and capitalism focused on ecotourism in particular. One of this literature's most salient features is to highlight ecotourism's function in employing capitalist mechanisms to address problems of capitalist development itself by attempting to resolve a series of contradictions intrinsic to the accumulation process, including: economic stagnation due to overaccumulation (time/space x); growing inequality and social unrest (social x); limitations on capital accumulation resulting from ecological degradation (environmental x); a widespread sense of alienation between humans and nonhuman natures; and a loss of “enchantment“ due to capitalist rationalization. Hence, widespread advocacy of ecotourism as a “panacea“ for diverse social and environmental ills can be interpreted as an implicit endorsement of its potential as a manifold capitalist x as well. The article concludes by outlining a number of possible directions for future research suggested by this review.