Volunteer tourism : a path to buen vivir?

Volunteer tourism;Volunteer tourism--Ecuador--Case studies;Well-being--Ecuador;Neoliberalism

Owen, Steven ; Laurie, Nina ; Laurie, Nina

University:University of St Andrews

Department:Earth & Environmental Sciences and Geography & Sustainable Development (Schools of)

关键词: Volunteer tourism;    Volunteer tourism--Ecuador--Case studies;    Well-being--Ecuador;    Neoliberalism;   

Others  :  https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/17542/StevenOwenPhDThesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

来源: DR-NTU

【 摘 要 】

The popularity of volunteer tourism stems from its discursive positioning as fosteringmutually beneficial relations between volunteer tourists and the host destination.Despite extensive scholarly work, the outcomes of this activity for host communitiesand volunteer tourists are still unclear. This study examines how volunteer tourism isinterpreted across a range of stakeholders in two indigenous communities in Ecuador- one Kichwa community in the town of Chilcapamba and one Tsa'chila communitynear the town of Santa Domingo. Employing qualitative research methods ofinterviews, focus groups, participant observation, document analysis and diaryanalysis, this study makes multiple contributions to existing literatures. Through theinclusion of host community members, it provides new insights into a tourist practice,predominantly understood from the perspective of volunteer tourists from the GlobalNorth. Moreover, it provides an alternative reading of volunteer tourism by framingthis activity through a worldview and political discourse originating from the GlobalSouth - Buen Vivir or 'good living'.The study argues that volunteer tourism functions through and reinforces thestructures and imaginaries of an unequal and uneven global economic system.Chapter Four contextualises the study, deducing that despite using the discourses ofBuen Vivir the Ecuadorian state employs practices typical of the neoliberal agenda.Chapter Five illustrates how host community members adopt and negotiateknowledge and practices from the Global North, to satisfy the demands of thevolunteer tourism industry. Following this, Chapter Six argues that marginalisedcommunity members mobilise the discourses of Buen Vivir, to challenge neoliberalpractices, which perpetuate existing inequalities in the communities. Finally, ChapterSeven proposes that volunteer tourists demonstrate a neoliberal subjectivity in howthey manage and narrate their experience in the host communities. The studyconcludes that volunteer tourism embodies the spirit of neoliberal developmentmodels, whilst Buen Vivir provides a critical avenue for unsettling this agenda, byproviding a framework through which alternative possibilities can be imagined.