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Neo-colonial Marketization of “Ethical Tourism”: A Critical Visual Analysis

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Abstract

Volunteer tourism is a form of alternative tourism appealing to individuals who want to ‘make a difference’ whilst travelling. Its growing popularity amongst young consumers is reflective of the marketisation of volunteer tourism, which has progressively professionalised. Although the altruistic and exploitative dimensions of volunteer tourism are widely debated, less attention has been paid to the broader cultural discourses which shape volunteer tourism and are represented in, and circulated through, visual narratives. The present research draws on postcolonial theories to trace the sociohistorical pervasiveness of the neo-colonial gaze in market-mediated relations between the Global North and the Global South. Our critical visual analysis demonstrates how provider-generated and consumer- generated visual representations of volunteer tourism are inflected by four neo-colonial discourses; making a difference, helplessness, sentimentality, and power asymmetry. All four are reproduced by providers and consumers in strikingly similar ways, raising considerations around the ethics of visual representation. However, the Othering of this scopic regime is also challenged by the critical, postcolonial spectator through visual subversion and satire.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Like Varman and Costa (2013), we acknowledge our reservations regarding the use of the terms “developed” and “developing” and are not uncritical in their use. However, the terms are widely used in the literature, and for the sake of understanding, we continue their usage here.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marketing, Monash University, Caulfield East, VIC, Australia

    Veronika Kadomskaia, Jan Brace-Govan & Angela Gracia B. Cruz

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  1. Veronika Kadomskaia
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  2. Jan Brace-Govan
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  3. Angela Gracia B. Cruz
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Correspondence to Veronika Kadomskaia .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Marketing Department, XLRI—Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India

    Himadri Roy Chaudhuri

  2. Marketing Department, Schulich School of Business, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Russell W. Belk

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Kadomskaia, V., Brace-Govan, J., Cruz, A.G.B. (2020). Neo-colonial Marketization of “Ethical Tourism”: A Critical Visual Analysis. In: Roy Chaudhuri, H., Belk, R. (eds) Marketization. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4514-6_12

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