Good Intentions, Colonial Mindsets: How Community-Based Tourism in Southern Mexico Mirrors Societal Power Disparities
Author
Solhart, Pil Marie
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2020
Submitted on
2020-06-01
Abstract
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan neokoloniale og neoliberale tendenser påvirker måden, hvorpå community-baseret turisme gennemføres i Maya-landsbyer omkring Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. Med udgangspunkt i etnografisk feltarbejde i 2019–2020 i samarbejde med den lokale økoturismeorganisation EcoGuerreros under udviklingen af vandreruten Camino del Mayab kombineres deltagerobservationer med formelle og uformelle interviews samt relevant sekundærlitteratur. Analysen fokuserer på, hvordan magtrelationer og kulturelle forskelle præger interaktionerne mellem aktører i den yucatekiske turismesektor, samt hvordan Maya-kultur indrammes, kommercialiseres og til dels approprieres i en branche præget af neoliberale logikker. Empiriske iagttagelser af iscenesat autenticitet – for eksempel forventninger om at leve op til bestemte traditionelle udtryk – belyser vedvarende neokoloniale mønstre, samtidig med at Mayas handlekraft og bestræbelser på at drage fordel af turisme anerkendes. Specialet konkluderer, at selv om community-baseret turisme kan have positive sider, er praksis i denne del af Mexico fortsat præget af samfundsmæssig stratificering og ulige magtdynamikker, og at inspiration fra ikke-vestlige ideologier og lokale økonomiske logikker kan være central for mere retfærdige turismeformer.
This thesis examines how neocolonial and neoliberal tendencies shape the implementation of community-based tourism in Maya villages around Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in 2019–2020 conducted in collaboration with the ecotourism organization EcoGuerreros during the development of the Camino del Mayab hiking route, the study combines participant observation with formal and informal interviews and relevant secondary literature. The analysis explores how power relations and cultural differences influence interactions among actors in the Yucatecan tourism sector, and how Maya culture is framed, commodified, and at times appropriated within an industry structured by neoliberal logics. Empirical observations of staged authenticity—for example, expectations to perform certain traditional appearances—illustrate enduring neocolonial patterns while recognizing the agency of Maya participants seeking to benefit from tourism. The thesis concludes that, despite some positive outcomes, community-based tourism in this context remains shaped by societal stratification and unequal power dynamics, and that inspiration from non-Western ideologies and indigenous economic logics may be important for more equitable tourism practices.
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