Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Heritage Tourism in China: Modernity, Identity and Sustainability
    Heritage Tourism in China: Modernity, Identity and Sustainability
    Heritage Tourism in China: Modernity, Identity and Sustainability
    Ebook422 pages4 hours

    Heritage Tourism in China: Modernity, Identity and Sustainability

    By Hongliang Yan

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This book offers new approaches and insights into the relationships between heritage tourism and notions of modernity, identity building and sustainable development in China. It demonstrates that the role of the state, politics, institutional arrangements and tradition have a considerable impact on perceptions of these notions. The volume contributes to current debates on tradition and modernity; the study of heritage tourism; the negotiated power between stakeholders in tourism planning and policy-making and the study of China’s society. The approach and findings of the book are of value to those interested in the continuities and changes in Chinese society and to graduate students and researchers in tourism, cultural studies and China studies.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherChannel View Publications
    Release dateJan 25, 2017
    ISBN9781845415952
    Heritage Tourism in China: Modernity, Identity and Sustainability
    Author

    Hongliang Yan

    Hongliang Yan is a Senior Lecturer in International Tourism Management, Coventry University, UK. His research interests include sustainable tourism, heritage tourism and tourism mobilities. He has published widely and his work has appeared in leading international peer-reviewed journals and books.

    Related to Heritage Tourism in China

    Titles in the series (45)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Anthropology For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      Ecotourism: The Future Of Long-term Sustainable Economic Growth In South Africa

      Apr 17, 2019

      At a time of load-shedding, anaemic economic growth and persistent drought in certain parts of our country, one would be forgiven for having a bleak outlook on South Africa’s future. This view would be reinforced against the backdrop of the global ec

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Future Forged in Dialogue

      Oct 24, 2024

      As the world grapples with rapid globalization and shifting political landscapes, international youth perspectives on the Communist Party of China (CPC) offer helpful insights. Recently, a diverse group of young individuals from different countries v

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Silk Road for the 21st Century

      Dec 5, 2024

      As neighboring countries connected by the ancient Silk Road, China and Kazakhstan share a long history of bilateral trade and cultural exchange. In a world of constant change, these enduring ties serve as a model for bilateral and multilateral cooper

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Taking the Initiative

      Jul 13, 2023

      All civilizations have certain characteristics, ranging from large population centers, monumental architecture and unique art styles to shared communication strategies, systems for administering territories, the division of people into social and eco

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Unity in Diversity

      Jun 20, 2024

      In his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the International Forum on the History and Future of Xinjiang, China, Pan Yue, head of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission, underlined the importance of understanding Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regio

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Harmony in Diversity

      Mar 30, 2023

      ‘The diversity of civilizations determines the diversity of development. It is in the process of inheriting and interpreting ancient civilizations, and in the dialogue of equal exchanges, that different countries find paths rooted in their own civili

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Cultural Notes

      May 18, 2023

      Once upon a time, ancient Chinese philosopher and educator Confucius (551-479 B.C.) used the fragrance of orchids, light yet lingering, to express the sublimity, humility and nobility of character for which he believed everyone should strive. This fo

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Rethinking Heritage

      Dec 24, 2020

      Rethinking Heritage
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Peak Pursuits

      Mar 28, 2024

      Counting nearly 9 million words, The General History of Xizang was meticulously compiled and written over more than 10 years by a team of over 100 researchers and authors, culminating in its publication roughly a decade ago. This monumental literary

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      PEOPLE & POINTS

      Jun 17, 2021

      China’s new ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, delivered his first message to British and Chinese citizens residing in the UK on June 7. Closer exchanges and cooperation between China and the UK will serve the interests of both sides, and contribut

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Go With the Flow

      May 4, 2023

      The Yellow River, known as the Cradle of Chinese Civilization, is not just a long and winding icon of China, but also a symbol of the Chinese spirit: bearing burdens (its sedimentation), adaptation (its shifting course) and perseverance (its continua

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      PEOPLE & POINTS

      Feb 16, 2023

      Nong Rong was appointed Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, China’s State Council announced on February 7. Born in Mashan in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in 1967, Nong spent the majority of his career in the region, which has pla

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Fragrance Of Friendship

      Sep 21, 2023

      Fragrance Of Friendship
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Diplomacy For The Better

      Apr 4, 2024

      In 1993, American political scientist Samuel Huntington proposed a theory that people’s cultural and religious identities will be the primary source of conflict in the post-Cold War world. More than 30 years after Huntington’s article expounding the

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Studying History to Understand the Future

      Jun 20, 2024

      In October 1995, a Sino-Japanese joint archaeological team unearthed the tomb of an aristocrat from the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) in Hotan Prefecture in south Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The tomb yielded a wealth of burial artifacts imbu

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Fostering Cultural Prosperity

      Jun 22, 2023

      Fostering Cultural Prosperity
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      From Barrier to Bridge

      Mar 28, 2024

      Before serving as Nepal’s ambassador to China in 2022, Bishnu Pukar Shrestha had devoted half a century of work to bringing positive changes to education in his country and to advocating for the rights of local communities. His experience with teachi

      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Future Shaped By Exchange

      Sep 28, 2023

      During an era in which global travel was a grand adventure reserved for the few, the British comic actor Charlie Chaplin and the revered Chinese opera artist Mei Lanfang stood face to face in 1930. Their meeting was transformative—they delved into ea

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Saving Churches Needs Money

      Nov 10, 2021

      LAST week saw the launch of yet another report on the future of our churches. This one, by the National Churches Trust, addresses the subject across the UK, not only England, and comprises essays from 16 contributors —including individuals from the t

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Beijing’s Central Axis Crowned With World Heritage Status

      Aug 8, 2024

      For a nation, having a local legacy recognized as a World Heritage site is a prestigious accomplishment. It brings immediate global recognition, economic opportunities, and responsibilities, while supporting the preservation of the cultural and histo

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Spotlight on Reference

      May 8, 2024

      Feb. 2023. Gale [gale.com/c/petersons-test-and-careerprep]. Gale has partnered with Peterson’s to provide a centralized, one-stop website of college and career readiness test preparation and career/college exploration. No section is exhaustive, but t

      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Big Asian Book of Landscape Architecture

      May 2, 2021

      At its start, the editors and authors of the The Big Asian Book of Landscape Architecture, Heike Rahmann from RMIT University and Jillian Walliss from The University of Melbourne, reiterate the collective view of those involved in the book’s producti

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Journey Of Discovery

      Aug 3, 2023

      For Liu Aiming, this summer vacation is an extremely busy one. Liu manages a program that takes students on educational tours and learning adventures in Beijing and he organizes two immersion activities each weekend. Late nights have become the norm

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Heritage Tourism in China

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Heritage Tourism in China - Hongliang Yan

      Preface

      The notion of modernity is widely associated with the idea of progress, development and human advancement. Recently, the notion has been expanded to a much broader idea of environmentally and socially sustainable development, with this being seen as a concept necessary to minimise the negative effects of economic development. This book examines the relationships between the planning, development and representation of heritage for tourist consumption and the notions of modernity, identity and sustainable development. These relationships are considered in the context of the continuities and changes in Chinese society.

      In this book, a conceptual framework has been developed to outline the potential relationships and how they may interact with each other in relation to heritage tourism in China. It draws on theory and concepts of Western literature and previous studies of China, and applies these to heritage tourism practice in China in order to gain deeper insights and understandings of the phenomena being studied, including their basis in politics, governance, administration and socio-cultural issues. The issues examined in this study are evaluated through empirical research on four well-known heritage sites in China: Qufu Confucius temple, cemetery and family mansion (World Heritage Site), Mount Tai (World Heritage Site), Taiqing Taoist Temple at Mount Lao, and 1894–95 Sino-Japanese War memorials. The sites embody many key tensions in contemporary China. These four heritage sites were selected for their cultural, natural, historical and political importance, and also because of the differences in the administration of the sites, and the uneven economic development and policy autonomy in the regions where they are located. The application of the conceptual framework to China's heritage tourism reveals the tensions that exist not only in this sector, but also in contemporary Chinese society more generally.

      Through the use of a constant comparative approach, comparative, iterative and flexible interpretation of this book demonstrates and explains the role of heritage tourism in mediating between modernity and tradition, development and sustainable development, and the local and the global. Stakeholders from different social groups who had interests in heritage tourism development at the four sites sometimes shared certain views on modernity, identity and sustainability, but sometimes they held rather different opinions on these key organising ideas. The stakeholders involved in policy making and planning at the sites held some similar and some differentiated beliefs regarding the representation of heritage for tourist consumption, with this reflecting their varying interests in the past as a resource and in tourism development. With a centralised governance, the planning and management of China's heritage sites are largely decided by the state and local authorities. This book focuses on the public sector and other influential stakeholders’ views on how heritage sites are planned, interpreted and managed, and it reveals the tensions and even open contestation among the stakeholders with interests in development of the sites. The agreement and contestation around heritage tourism alter people's cognition and behaviour, including their overall notions of modernity, identity and sustainability.

      The book adds a new approach and new insights into the relationships between heritage tourism and notions of modernity, identity building and sustainable development in China. It demonstrates that the roles of the state, political ideology, institutions, tradition, society and culture, and other external elements have considerable impacts on the presentation of heritage. The approach and findings of this book add to people's understanding of the debates on tradition and modernity, on the study of heritage tourism, on the negotiated power between stakeholders in tourism planning and policy making, and on the study of Chinese society. The book indicates that the complex relationships between tourism and the notions of modernity, identity and sustainability are rarely stable; rather, they often are mobile and dynamic.

      Introduction

      Tourism is not only found in almost every culture, but also ‘part of some way of life and its context’ (Nash & Smith, 1991: 22). As a complex phenomenon, tourism has a diversity of meanings and interpretations and is difficult to define (Yan & Morpeth, 2015). Tourism is often conceptualised as a global process of commodification and consumption involving flows of people, capital, images and cultures, and can be described as a ‘system’ (Appadurai, 1990; Clifford, 1997; Frow, 1997; Lanfant, 1995; Mathieson & Wall, 1982). In one of the first attempts to relate tourism to debates on modernity, MacCannell (1976) depicts modern life as a disruption to the stable, often family-based interpersonal relations of the pre-modern period. Modernity is also widely associated with the ideas of ‘progress’ and appropriate change (MacCannell, 1976) and in particular with the notion of a path to development and human advancement. More recently, the notion of modernity has been related to broader ideas on environmentally and socially sustainable development. MacCannell (1992) suggests that tourism is an ideological framing of history, nature and tradition which has the power to reshape culture and nature in relation to its own needs. Part of the social construction of modernity and sustainability concerns the building and rebuilding of people's senses of identity, both on a national and on a local level (Burns, 1998; Hall, 1999; Light, 2000). Based on a social constructionist view, the notion of modernity largely depends on people's perceptions, and so is negotiable and socially constructed. The notions of modernity, identity and sustainability are both socially constructed and fundamental organising ideas in society, although people may not fully understand their significance.

      In a study of tourism and modernity in China, Oakes (1998) suggests that the three concepts – modernity, identity and sustainability – are interlinked. He argues that the idea of modernity constitutes a fundamental break with the past, thus creating a distinction between ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’. In particular, he indicates that in China the nation state often seeks to integrate or absorb the ideas of modernity and sustainability within its favoured concepts of nationalism (Oakes, 1998: 25). Oakes (1998) identifies some important social phenomena and tensions resulting from China's pursuit of modernity. However, there is limited explanation of the reasons for the formation of those tensions in that study, and indeed there might be challenges to do this purely based on a Western approach. Therefore, the purpose of this book is to evaluate the relationships between heritage tourism and notions of modernity, identity and sustainable development; it examines the practices of planning, development and representation of heritage tourism and the tensions in these relationships in the context of continuities and changes in Chinese society. These tensions are critically evaluated through the study of four well-known heritage sites in China. The tensions are evident in how these heritage sites have been planned, developed and presented for tourist consumption. The tensions relate to issues such as political ideology, traditional religions and philosophies, human–environment relations, people's senses of identity, and differing notions of tradition and modern. The four heritage sites were chosen as they embody many of the tensions in contemporary China relevant to the study.

      The book seeks to examine the relationships between heritage tourism and notions of modernity, identity building and sustainable development, and to identify and explore the tensions existing in those relationships and contemporary China's society. The assessment adopts a constructionist perspective. Because of the characteristics of Chinese governance, heritage tourism planning and management are largely decided by the public sector, though private stakeholders are increasingly playing a more important role nowadays. Therefore, this book examines the issues from the viewpoints of policy makers and other influential stakeholders at local, regional and national levels who had interests in heritage tourism and the four heritage sites selected for this study. The issues are also evaluated through official policy documents, local chronologies, newspaper and promotional material. The study develops and applies a broad conceptual framework to assess the relationships between the planning, development and representation of heritage sites for tourist consumption and the notions of modernity, identity and sustainable development in contemporary China. The conceptual framework also assists with understanding the relations between tradition and modernity, the negotiations between stakeholders, and continuities and changes in Chinese society. The conceptual framework is based on heritage tourism practices in China and the belief that issues can be best understood when examined in relation to both the interconnections between them and to the varied relationships affecting them.

      Guided by the conceptual framework, the research issues in this book are evaluated through empirical research on four well-known heritage sites in China. The heritage resources at these sites are connected with their rich cultural, natural, historical and political legacies, and these have led to them becoming important tourist destinations. The four heritage sites are Qufu World Heritage Site (WHS), with its Confucius temple, mansion and cemetery, Mount Tai WHS, Taiqing Taoist Temple at Mount Lao, and Liugong Island, with its 1894–95 Sino-Japanese War memorials.

      Qufu WHS embodies the core values of traditional Chinese culture and philosophy: Confucianism. As the most influential philosophy in China, Confucianism has exerted a profound influence on Chinese culture, governance and society for more than 2000 years. It also has exerted an important influence in East Asia and South East Asia, and had a positive influence on the Enlightenment of 18th-century Europe (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), 1994b). Qufu WHS reflects the paramount historical position of Confucianism in Chinese culture, and the interpretation, promotion and development of this site reflect the tensions and conflicts in heritage management and the change of values in contemporary Chinese society.

      As China's first heritage site inscribed by UNESCO in 1987, Mount Tai WHS is an outstanding combination of a beautiful natural landscape dominated by the cultural impacts of thousands of years of human interaction with the sacred mountain. The natural and cultural ensemble of Mount Tai represents the ancient civilisations of China, particularly in relation to their religions and arts (UNESCO, 1987a). The preservation and development of the site provide a good example of the governance of protected areas and the challenges to sustainability because of the increasing visitation and tourism.

      As an important heritage site associated with traditional Chinese belief, the Taiqing Taoist Temple at Mount Lao is a famous religious heritage site which has an important role in the history of Taoism, being one of the origins of ‘Quanzhen Taoism’ and the second largest temple for ‘Quanzhen Taoism’ (Laoshan, 2013b). Taoists at Taiqing Temple have made a great contribution not only to Taoist religion but also to ancient Chinese culture. The development and management of this heritage site demonstrate the tensions in heritage governance in terms of the roles and interests of government departments and agencies, and reflect the evolution of governance in contemporary China.

      Different from the other three heritage sites, which link with the ancient history of China, Liugong Island, with its 1894–95 Sino-Japanese War memorials, has many political meanings for the promotion of national identity building due to its history as the headquarters of the Beiyang Fleet of China's last feudal dynasty; it is also a site associated with the failure of the Self-Strengthening Movement in China's modern history. The interpretation and representation of the site reflect a pragmatic selection and use of history for contemporary national identity building.

      As important heritage sites in China, on the one hand, the four heritage sites are important symbols of ancient and pre-modern Chinese civilisations and beliefs; on the other hand, they are greatly affected by alterations in people's values and beliefs in China over recent decades. These changes in values and beliefs have influenced Chinese people in their sense of history and their responses to socio-cultural modernity and sustainability. They also closely relate to people's search for the Chinese past, and the connections to their present and future. As in other regions in China, Shandong Province where those sites are located has been profoundly influenced culturally and socially by national-state socialism. Its socio-economic development and growth in tourism have many features that are similar to those found elsewhere in China. Since the book focuses on the tensions and processes of heritage tourism in China, and because all four heritage sites are famous and prominent, the tensions and processes reflected here may often be found elsewhere in China. Their features are sufficiently ‘typical’ in order to suggest some wider generalisations concerning the relationships between tourism planning and development and people's notions of modernity, identity and sustainable development. The details of the research context are discussed in Chapter 2.

      The book is premised on the contention that research that abstracts a single issue from its socio-economic, cultural, institutional and political context may lose a full understanding of relevant processes and meanings, and that this can lead to misinterpretation. The book thus explores these relationships and tensions through a thorough examination of heritage tourism planning, development and representation in China. While this book uses the four well-known heritage tourist destinations in China as its analytical focus, it is not a work that excludes other considerations. Indeed, the central purpose of the work is to explore and evaluate the relations between tradition and modernity, the negotiations between stakeholders, and continuities and changes in Chinese society.

      The seven chapters analyse different aspects of heritage tourism and notions of modernity, identity building and sustainable development in China. Chapter 1 identifies previous research in the field and highlights concepts related to modernity, identity and sustainability. It outlines the key areas that further an understanding of the issues. It provides a selective and critical review of published research related to the issues under investigation. It also highlights the potential contestations around heritage tourism and their implications for the social construction of values in China.

      Chapter 2 discusses the general context of heritage sites, with a particular focus on tourism-related governance, public administration, policies and regulations, and on the socio-economic and cultural background of China, Shandong Province, and the four heritage sites. It identifies specific concepts and interpretations that guided the research. The framework demonstrates the interactions between the three connected sets of issues affecting tourism development at the four heritage sites. These are: firstly, continuities and changes in the notions of modernity, identity building and sustainable development, which in turn reflect the broader patterns of continuities and changes in contemporary China; secondly, the influences and sources of differences, negotiations and tensions in the representations of heritage for tourist consumption; and thirdly, the processes and outcomes of the planning and representation of heritage at the four sites. Then the chapter discusses in detail the conceptual framework that is applied and evaluated in this study.

      Chapter 3 discusses the influence of China's traditional and political philosophies on contemporary Chinese society. Through the discussion of people's perceptions on the traditional Chinese philosophies of Confucianism and Taoism and the political philosophy of socialism, the chapter further discusses changes in cultural and heritage policies in China and how those philosophical ideas influence contemporary Chinese society, and notably how this influence has been manifested in China's heritage tourism. It provides important background information on contemporary Chinese governance, tourism-related public administration and other socio-cultural issues relevant to heritage tourism in China.

      Chapter 4 first explores the hierarchy of governance in China, and then discusses the decentralisation of tourism planning and policy making, and the role of regulations and laws in the transformation of China's governance. It provides a critical evaluation of tourism development at the four heritage sites, examined in the context of China's transitional governance and governance hierarchies.

      Chapter 5 discusses the representation of modernity through heritage tourism. It explores the perceptions of different groups of stakeholders of features of the heritage sites, with these considered in relation to notions of tradition and modernity. The chapter focuses on two important functions of heritage in China: firstly, the use of heritage for identity building, in particular national identity building; and secondly, the use of heritage for tourism commodification in order to contribute to China's ongoing modernisation. The issues examined in this chapter include the motives of state and local authorities to interpret and represent heritage sites for national identity building, and people's notions of the concepts of authenticity and tourism commodification in the context of the four heritage sites.

      Chapter 6 examines human–environment relations and the relationships between tourism and sustainable development in contemporary China. It identifies some of the threats and opportunities that market liberalisation may pose for heritage as tourism products. Firstly, the discussion of heritage tourism practices at the four sites continues the discussion in Chapter 3 on the influence of traditional Chinese values, socialist values and Western capitalist values on human–environment relationships in contemporary China. Secondly, in looking at the varied perceptions of tourism and sustainable development in China, it focuses on issues relating to the heritage tourism practices at the four heritage sites in order to explore the role of tourism in sustainable development and how stakeholders negotiate this contested notion and search for alternative paradigms in contemporary China.

      Finally, Chapter 7 provides an overall conclusion and the wider implications of the book. This concluding chapter presents a synopsis of the research findings, and further examines the potential value of the study for an understanding of the contestations between China's socialism, modernisation and tradition, the relationships between the planning, development and representation of heritage for tourist consumption, and alternative perspectives on modernity, identity and sustainable development in contemporary China.

      Conceptualising Modernity

      Modernity is often considered not only as a form of social order but also as a form of conceptualising the world. It is conventionally dated from the Enlightenment (starting in the 17th century) and it is often used as a shorthand term for modern society or industrial civilisation (Giddens & Pierson, 1998). It generally refers to the period since the Renaissance and is therefore often associated with the replacement of traditional society. In a more specific way, the term of ‘modernity’ refers to a new social order that has arisen during the last two or three centuries, a social order that first appeared in the West and then spread to the rest of the world (Wang, 2000). The Oxford Dictionary of Sociology defines modernity as ‘a term used to characterise the stage in the history of social relations, dating roughly from the end of 18th century, which is characterised by the democratic and industrial revolutions’ (Scott & Marshall, 2009). The definition suggests that the features of modernity are different from the social organisation which characterised life in the pre-modern society. In this vein, pre-modern society was often characterised by tradition, collectivism and authority, while modern society is often associated with progress, randomness, liberty and individualism.

      Modernity represents a profound separation from what has gone before, presenting nothing less than a new horizon for discourse experience, practices and forms of life (O'Regan, 2011). As Giddens and Pierson (1998) suggest, modernity is associated with: a certain set of attitudes towards the world; the idea of the world as open to transformation by human intervention; a complex of economic institutions, especially industrial production and a market economy; a certain range of political institutions, including the nation state and mass democracy. Largely as a result of these characteristics, modernity is more dynamic than any previous type of social order, because all these dimensions are intertwined with one another. At the heart of the institutional, intellectual, temporal and spatial orders of modernity is what Weber (1978) calls ‘rationalisation’, a process whereby traditional customs give way to contemporary ways of doing things (Wang, 2000). Modernity represents a society or as Giddens (1998: 94) argues ‘more technically, a complex of institutions – which unlike any proceeding culture lives in the future rather than the past’. To social theorists, the notion of modernity is associated with the sweeping changes caused by the emergence of capitalism and industrialisation, such as new ways of organising labour, rationalising production, expanding the bureaucracy and extracting social relations from local contexts. It concerns the building and rebuilding of people's identity both on a national and on a local level, and it promotes and is associated with the idea of progress and change, in particular the notion of a linear path to socially sustainable development in which the pre-modern is swept aside by the progressive march of modernity. The idea of modernity constitutes a fundamental break with the past, thus creating a distinction between ‘modern’ and ‘traditional’. Both the ‘primitive’ and the ‘traditional’ come to be seen as the antithesis of modernity, as qualities of people and place that are survivals (Oakes, 1998).

      Modernity is a contingent and dynamic field of destruction and renewal, of power and resistance, of the constant struggle to define the meaning of one's life in the face of ever new forces which threaten to take that meaning away (Oakes, 1998). It is not an end product or a steady state, so it should be studied from a dynamic perspective. Meethan (2001) suggests that modernisation assumes that development occurs on a linear or evolutionary basis, and that less developed societies can catch up with the developed world, given the right conditions. Oakes (1998) argues that modernity is not a geographically defined ‘thing’ that exists here in one particular society but not there in another. Further, it is not a ‘goal’ to be reached in society through progressive state interventions in the form of various ‘modernisations’. Instead, he argues that modernity is ‘a tense and paradoxical process through which people produce, confront, and negotiate a particular kind of socio-economic change’ (Oakes, 1998: 7).

      Some developments and changes to society have made scholars and lay people alike question if there is a necessity for a new term to describe social relations, one suggesting that people live in a new era of modernism. Moreover, many authors argue that post-modernity replaced modernity during the last quarter of the 20th century (Harvey, 1990). They consider that people stand at the opening of a new era, to which the social sciences must respond and which is taking people beyond modernity itself (Giddens, 1990). Referring to this transition, the new term ‘post-modernity’ had often been used to describe the emergence of a new type of social system. For example, as one of its key advocates, Lyotard (1979) suggests that post-modernity refers to a shift away from attempts to ground epistemology, and from faith in humanly engineered progress. Hence, the condition of post-modernity is distinguished by an evaporating of the ‘grand narrative’ – the overarching ‘story line’ by means of which people are placed in history as beings having a definite past and a predictable future (Giddens, 1990: 2). Nevertheless, there are authors who believe that there has not yet been a fundamental shift in society. The changes in contemporary society indicate only a radical intensification of the characteristics embedded within modernity, with life-altering consequences of these changes reaching all aspects of everyday life (Cohen, 2008). Many scholars contend that people now live in a late or high modernity (Scott & Marshall, 2009). In particular, Giddens (1990: 3) suggests that it is not sufficient merely to invent the new term ‘post-modernity’, as the nature of modernity itself, for certain fairly specific reasons, has been poorly grasped in the social sciences hitherto. Rather than entering a period of post-modernity, people are moving into one in which the consequences of modernity are becoming more radicalised and universalised than before (Giddens, 1990). It is critical to recognise the structural changes suggested by the term ‘post-modernity’. As Wang (2000) suggests, since these so-called post-modern changes have not transcended rationalisation, it might be better to consider post-modernity a new form of the same order, rationalisation. Hence the more classical term ‘modernity’ and the new so-called ‘post-modernity’ can be viewed as two different forms of the modern order. They are ‘two analytical devices used to characterise different phenomena within the same contemporary society’ (Wang, 2000: 15). Therefore, it may be better to treat so-called post-modernity as ‘late modernity’, a term that refers to the forms of social organisation characterising advanced society during the last quarter of the 20th century.

      Tourism and modernity

      The period of modernity has witnessed a rapid change in societies and the globalisation of social life, connecting large-scale societies together in a whole variety of ways, from long-range economic exchanges and international political agreements to global tourism, electronic communications technology and more fluid migration patterns (Giddens, 2009). In all these ways, modernity has become a universal logic organising human life, and cuts across all boundaries of geography and ethnicity, of class and nationality, of religion and ideology (Anderson, 1984). In the period of modernity, people across the world have become more interconnected and interdependent than in previous times (Giddens, 2009).

      The history of tourism in Western modernity, in terms of tourism either as a form of leisure travel or as a specific commodity production system, coincides roughly with the history of modernity (Wang, 2000). As an essential component of modernity, tourism is often viewed as an expression of both ‘love’ and ‘hate’ in response to the existential condition of modernity (Wang, 2000). On the one hand, tourism originated from modern people's reaction against and resistance to the dark side of modernity. In this vein, tourism is considered as an escape from the alienation of modernity (Cohen & Taylor, 1992; Rojek, 1993). However, on the other hand, some scholars have attempted to demonstrate that tourism is in fact a ‘false’ necessity, and that the demand for tourism is the result of manipulation, seduction and control by the tourism production system (Britton, 1991; Watson & Kopachevsky, 1994). Hence, tourism mobility reflects the structural ambivalence of modernity and modernity is enfolded in a paradoxical unity, a unity of disunity: ‘it pours us all into a maelstrom of perpetual disintegration and renewal, of struggle and contradiction, of ambiguity and anguish’ (Anderson, 1984: 97).

      One of the first attempts to relate tourism to debates on modernity was by MacCannell. He depicts modern life as a disruption to the stable, often family-based interpersonal relations of the pre-modern period. In that context, he argues that tourism is a reaction against the ‘fragmentation, discontinuity and alienation that are such features of modern life’ (MacCannell, 1976: 11). Similar to MacCannell, Wilson (1994) finds in tourism a behaviour that makes sense only in the broader social context of the experience of modernity. In a modern society, the pre-modern becomes preserved for the satisfaction of the modern, alienated tourist, with tourism itself becoming the search for the authentic, the pre-modern and the primitive. Tourism becomes the contemporary embodiment of the exiled modernist's search for authenticity (Oakes, 1998). As MacCannell (1989) suggests, tourism appropriates and commodifies the experience of exile. Tourism is part of the process whereby modernity constructs and appropriates a distant non-modern world, and puts it on display in museum-like fashion (Oakes, 1998), thus defining the boundaries of modernity ‘by rendering concrete and immediate that which modernity is not’ (MacCannell, 1989: 9). While these arguments are challenged, they are a powerful influence on how social theory interprets the relations between tourism and modernity.

      The spread of modernity was an uneven process, which has consequences in terms of both globalisation and development. Tourism, in the initial stages of its global spread, as with many other forms of economic development, may have appeared as a path to modernity, especially to developing countries. Unlike other forms of development, tourism has one obvious attraction to developing countries: it is an industry ‘without chimneys’ and requires relatively low capital investment (Harrison, 1994). In addition, tourism is a means of earning foreign currency and, as such, it counts as an invisible export earner and can be seen as a relatively low-cost means of balancing the national accounts (Archer & Cooper, 1998; Harrison, 1997). Meethan (2001) suggests that this form of development assumes that the building of large tourism developments will act as a catalyst to promote some form of ‘trickle down’ effect, which will then benefit the overall economy. Also, the development of modern infrastructure will necessarily benefit the economy as a whole. This approach therefore assumes that the spread of modernity in itself is both desirable and achievable, and that, in turn, traditional values and cultures could be viewed as inimical to progress (Wood, 1993). Development in these terms is therefore viewed as the spread of a system of universal values or, rather, of providing the underdeveloped nations and regions with the means by which the universal goals of economic growth and prosperity can be achieved (Meethan, 2004).

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1