Thinking Through Tourism

Scott (London Metropolitan Business School, UK) and Selwyn (anthropology, U. of London, UK) present 11 papers from a conference of the Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth focusing on the twin themes of what anthropology can contribute to the study of tourism and what anthropology can learn about itself through "thinking through tourism." Topics addressed include ideas and practices of British nationalism in the Mallorcan resort of Magaluf, the roles of the sexualized female body in the anthropology of tourism, the ideas and practices of owners of Canadian lakeside second homes, the impact of tourist-related property development on the coastal spaces of Malta, identities and daily practices of different groups associated with the souk (market) of Syria's Old Aleppo, the Western modernist symbolism found in the tropical gardens of the island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean, tourism at Malta's Neolithic monuments and the transformation of the local landscape, the contradictions of the "host/guest" paradigm in tourism literature and practice, and the prospects for critical anthropological intervention into tourism practices. Distributed in the US by Palgrave Macmillan. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)