Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
4
POST-STRUCTURALISM
Tim Gale
Introduction
Accompanying the remarkable growth in studies of tourism over the last decade, new ways
of seeing have emerged which cohere around the idea that 'tourism' - as well as being a
type of leisure activity or a collection of service industries distinguished by (the trade in) jour-
neys to and overnight stays in remote destinations - is a post-modern practice that
shapes and helps us to make sense of the world we live in. It is no coincidence that, during this
time, there has been greater theoretical engagement in a fi eld once celebrated and criticised in
equal measure for its (narrow) empiricism and perceived relevance to industry and public
policy, in part a response to earlier calls for tourism researchers to inject some social and
cultural theory into their analyses (e.g. Davis, 2001; Hughes, 1992; Squire, 1994). This goes
beyond so-called 'middle-order' theories, such as tourist typologies or destination life cycles,
to the level of theoretical perspectives or philosophies - principally post-modernism, structur-
alism and post-structuralism (Davis, 2001). Together, these comprise the focus of this chapter
although, as its title implies, much of it is given over to explaining the post-structuralist
perspective and how this has informed ideas about space and place in contemporary tourism
geographies. To this end, and after a brief explanation of cognate terms, 'old' and 'new'
conceptualisations of
change in destinations
are contrasted (with specifi c reference to Butler's
1980 Tourist Area Life Cycle and Dietvorst and Ashworth's 1995 Model of Tourism
Transformations), and a short commentary is provided on two movements of relevance and
substance - the New Mobilities Paradigm (NMP) and Critical Tourism Studies (CTS). The
advantages and limitations of the above-mentioned perspectives - and post-structuralism in
particular - are highlighted throughout the chapter, which concludes with an appeal to blend
social theory with empirical study in tourism-related research (rather than pursuing one at the
expense of the other).
Defi nitions of post-modernism, structuralism and post-structuralism
For expediency's sake, and following the lead of Davis (2001), it was decided to limit this
chapter and the defi nitions within it to the three perspectives mentioned above. Even then,
the task of explaining what these mean in a few short paragraphs is a challenging one, not least
