Abstract
Morality is a contested concept. It is highly dependent on cultural context and subjective value and belief systems. It can be used as a tool for political and social oppression, or as a means for raising standards of social and political equity and social consciousness. Tourism is an industry: a product which uses living organisms, people and ecosystems, indeed, everything that constitutes life on this planet, and, possibly in future, the universe, as its raw material for profit maximisation. As such, Western analysts contend that it needs to be analysed in the context of its relationship with morality. Moral Encounters in Tourism, edited by Mary Mostafanezhad and Kevin Hannam (2014), takes as its premise that tourism is mediated by moral issues, and that formal discussions on its moral implications should become more embedded in public and academic tourism studies circles. The editors argue for a ‘foregrounding of the tourism encounter’ (p. 9), a ‘micro-analysis’ of the ‘host – guest’ relationship within moral parameters, indicating the ‘Moral Turn’ in tourism studies (p. 5). Citing Gibson (2010), the editors deem encounters to be ‘moments and spaces in which power is realised and relations of care extended’ (p. 2). This analysis also extends to the research encounter, which is addressed in the latter part of the book in the context of a section on moral methodologies and Hannam’s and Mostafanezhad’s concluding chapter on ‘Moral conduct in tourism research’. The book thus incorporates four sections, including four chapters in each on moral consumption in tourism, embodied tourism encounters, environmental tourism moralities and moral methodologies.
Interestingly, the section on ‘Moral consumption in tourism’ opens with Jim Butcher’s chapter on ‘Moralizing Tourism’ and his critique of ethical and responsible tourism as an expression of lifestyle choice and personal morality, rather than as an expression of political critique. He clearly does not acknowledge the possibility of a link between the personal and political. Butcher’s position generally embraces the excitement and thrill of tourism as a private journey and adventure, curtailed and restricted when ‘ethical imperatives’ infringe on this personal experience. Regrettably, this critique does not find any counter response in the rest of the book. It would have been interesting to use it as a platform for a debate, supported by different perspectives in different chapters. In particular, the position of (contentiously so-called) ‘host’ community groups in relation to such thrill seekers could have been foregrounded more sharply.
The editors claim that there has been little discussion of the role of morality in tourism. While this is true to some extent within mainstream tourism research, this position is surprising, when one considers the debates and activist campaigns since the 1990s on sustainability, ethics and the impacts of tourism, which are implicitly rooted in one way or another in a moral value system. In this context, the editors distinguish between ethics and morality. It would have been enlightening to analyse more constructively the inter-relationship between morality and ethics and the role of ethics in tourism, not so much as ‘ethical tourism’ (which could be argued does not exist, or is at best an elusive concept) but as an aspiration, driven by moral values, and as a continuous debate embedded in all tourism consumer and trade activity. This could have expanded existing discussions on ethics in tourism.
The book incorporates a mixture of intriguing empirical research, such as on ‘Architectures of escape’, focusing on tourism bubbles in Cancun (Mexico), representations of the past in relation to cold war plutonium tourism and heritage tourism of immigrants in a New York Lower East Side neighbourhood. The ambiguous practice of Voluntourism and its moral connotations in its various representations of English language teaching, conservation work or as a de-commodified alternative to neo-liberal consumption tends to emerge repeatedly at least once in each section. An informative, though rather legalistically infused essay embraces the ‘criminality, irresponsibility and immorality’ of cross-border fertility tourism (p. 74). Generally, the majority of the contributions tend to focus on the ‘guest’ side of the moral encounter. A greater focus on the ‘host’ side of the story would have enriched the diversity of stand points.
Brent Lovelock provides the most readable and stimulating chapter in taking a reality check on the moralisation of flying and the issue of cognitive dissonance in our efforts as tourists to absolve ourselves from responsibility. Sharon Wilson’s auto-ethnographic and critically reflexive exploration of the morality of her insider research among camper van enthusiasts offers a welcome light-hearted reprieve from an overly convoluted and theoretical writing style present in some of the other chapters.
The book focuses broadly on the relationship between tourists and destination community. As such, it is conceived as a ‘micro-analysis’. However, considering a micro-analysis in isolation and independent of the macro-environment necessarily leaves questions unanswered. Such an approach runs the risk of neglecting to address the political and structural, hegemonic relationships and complexities that frame the moral ambiguities of the tourism system and the moral encounter in destinations. These include the diversity of cultural perspectives on morality and the roles and relationships of the private, public and voluntary sectors played out against a background of shifting global power dynamics and the capitalist, neo-liberal commodification process. While the editors express an intention to link local dynamics with global pressures, this could have potentially been more explicit in the structure of the book and in the nature of the contributions.
Additionally, a more targeted and focused editorial approach might have helped to harmonise the writing style and address the numerous typos and, in some cases, missing words. Some chapters provide an introduction, others don’t; so it takes the reader some time to understand the purpose of some of the contributions.
Overall, this book presents an important milestone in progressing debates on moral issues in tourism. The research it presents is, for the most part, inspiring, critical and original. It brings to the fore important issues, which could form the basis for further exploration and critical debate. In particular, the contributions on moral methodologies, including Caton’s discussion on ‘Humanism and Tourism’, are to be commended.