Putting Foucault to work in tourism research

Abstract

This paper reflects on Foucault's Archaeology of Knowledge as a methodological approach in tourism research. It offers lessons from recent research focused on critiquing heritage sites and museums as examples of destination discourse. The aim is to tackle an increasingly acknowledged reluctance to declare method when carrying out Foucauldian analysis. The paper reflects on the role of discourse analysis as a methodology in tourism research before considering Foucault's specific contribution. It then offers a synthesis of Foucault's methodological ideas and presents these as an adaptable discursive analytic that can be applied to a range of tourism research contexts. It considers the methodological limits that are associated with the deployment of Foucault before a conclusion considers the novel contribution of the paper, which is an adaptable discursive analytic for tourism researchers to contemplate when thinking about how to “do” Foucauldian discourse analysis.

Unpacking overtourism as a discursive formation through interdiscursivity

“…Discursive formations are a common object of inquiry in the social sciences and humanities (Wight, 2019), with Foucault (2002, p. 24) noting that "facts of discourse that deserve to be analysed beside others; of course, they also have complex relations with each other, but they are not intrinsic, autochthonous, and universally recognisable characteristics". Foucault (2002, p. 26) goes on to argue that "[w]hat we must do, in fact, is to tear away from their [discursive formations] virtual self-evidence.…”

Mobile student experience: The place of tourism

“…Several branches of the context-rich field of tourism studies contribute to a more contextual and critical understanding of mobile student experience. Since Urry's seminal "Tourist Gaze" (1990), tourism researchers have continued to engage with Foucault (see Wight, 2018, for a comprehensive review). Significantly, for Foucault the local context represents "the point 14 where power reaches into the very grain of individuals, touches their bodies and inserts itself into their actions and attitudes, their discourses, learning processes and everyday lives" (Foucault, 1980, p. 39).…”

“…This creates a more hostile environment for international students in the UK, whilst repelling some prospective international students. Wight (2018) explains how the archaeological approach (Foucault, 1969) creates the potential to critique discourses, revealing both privileged subject positions, and those who are marginalised. The smallest unit of analysis is the "statement", understood as meaning that follows the agreed codes of a broader discourse (Wight, 2018, p. 127).…”

“…It is important to avoid being overly prescriptive regarding the contents of practice-arrangement bundles, without first establishing what is salient to mobile students in specific contexts (Lamers et al, 2017). However, following the discussion above (4.1 Critical Acculturation, 4.2 International Student Mobilities, 5.1 Power Relations and Discourse, 5.2 Performativity, and 5.3 Intersubjective Practices), these are likely to include discourses, power relations, identities, capitals, stocks of knowledge, and language (Brooks & Waters, 2011;Cheong & Miller, 2000;Rizvi, 2009;Wight, 2018).…”

Shapeshifting Nature : Ambivalent Ways of Seeing the Non-Human World within Swedish National Park Tourism and its Visual Culture

“…Taking an explorative and reflexive approach felt espe-cially important because many studies grounded in a social constructivist approach have received massive amounts of criticism for their statements about research and knowledge as socially validated (Demeritt, 2006). In this context, researchers such as Foucault have been questioned for not being stringent and vibrant about their ways of conducting research (Simons, 1995;Wight, 2019). Furthermore, interdisciplinary studies of a critical character, where different methods, perspectives, and concepts are combined, and reflections upon epistemologies and ontologies are integrated, frequently face criticism from disciplinary perspectives for being superficial or lacking rigor (Kincheloe, 2001).…”