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Dark Tourism in an Increasingly Violent World

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The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies

Abstract

This chapter theoretically examines dark tourism in an increasingly violent world. While early conceptualizations of dark tourism guide us in examining the phenomena of exposure to death-related tourism, a more violent age in a post-9/11, post-Charlie Hebdo world forces us to come to terms with a more violent existence. Violent death and orchestrated mass murder, once largely sequestered for many in the West, are now ever more evident in our own personal spaces and communities. Indeed, ISIS and violent extremism, not necessarily a stranger to those in the perpetually war-torn Middle East, is now in the forefront of the minds of those in the UK, Continental Europe and North America. Moreover, entertainment and the media incorporate increasingly violent narratives, including an emphasis on gruesome experiences in dystopian worlds whereby there is an embracing focus on moral decay, personal responsibility, and atrocity images (Podoshen et al. 2014b; Sparrow 2014; Calia 2015). Resultantly, the study of death and its intersection with consumption has gained significant momentum in the literature (Dobscha et al., 2012; Dobscha, 2016; Levy, 2015; Podoshen 2016; Stone and Sharpley, 2013; Venkatesh et al., 2014).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, USA

    Jeffrey S. Podoshen

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  1. Jeffrey S. Podoshen
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Philip R. Stone

  2. University of Colorado Denver, Denver, USA

    Rudi Hartmann

  3. University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Tony Seaton

  4. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom

    Richard Sharpley

  5. Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

    Leanne White

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Podoshen, J.S. (2018). Dark Tourism in an Increasingly Violent World. In: R. Stone, P., Hartmann, R., Seaton, T., Sharpley, R., White, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Dark Tourism Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-47566-4_7

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