Rethinking the space of tourism, its power-geometries, and spatial justice

Abstract

This article critically reflects on the space of tourism and its intersection with spatial justice. Despite the urgency to embrace a more just, sustainable, tourism the space of tourism has not yet received a sufficiently forceful reflection. Our study contributes to filling that gap by proposing a novel theoretical framework that combines Massey's spatial turn in the social sciences, with the posthuman, affirmative ethics of Braidotti, while drawing on elements of Field Theory/Hodological Space in Lewin. We move from an overview of the sociological space of tourism, articulated by neoliberal capitalism, through a critique built upon the spatial turn in the social sciences, arguing that space is relational, imbued with power geometries, the product of interrelations, and always under construction. We develop a conceptual model that draws on Latour's Actor-Network Theory and aspects of Field Theory, which understands space as an individual lived experience (hodological space). That theorisation is then extended to the space of tourism through the lens of the posthuman, affirmative ethics, and mobile ontologies of both human and non-human actants. In doing so the novel theoretical framework we develop exposes the complexity and nuance of the space of tourism and enables the possibility of spatially just tourism.

Space Tourism: A Historical and Existential Perspective

“…While Schwartz (2016) goes on to state that presently, we should be "open to the possibility that a pluralist account of value may best suit the ethics of space" (p. 93), at the same time, commercial interests have tended to focus exclusively on human centred perspectives, specifically, the argument that through a global commons perspective, humankind can collectively benefit from the opportunities that space presents and avoid a repeat of colonialist power plays [88]. Tourists motivated by opportunities for adventure [89] and space tourism enterprises underpinned by neoliberal market-driven interests [90,91] are particularly representative of such selffocussed mindsets. However, what Cook and the Endeavour's time in Australia illustrates is that it is only through a comprehensive "consideration of the pressures and expectations of others" [67] that ethical outcomes can be achieved.…”