International Voluntourism as Secular Pilgrimage: A Case Study of Hosts and Guests in a Small Panamanian Town

In this paper, I discuss the social dynamics of international ‘voluntourism’ in Santa Catalina, a small town on the Pacific coast of Panama that has become a tourist mecca in the last two decades. Through my collection of documentary, interview, and ethnographic data, I contribute to on-going debates about the appropriateness and impact of volunteer tourism in developing countries (McGehee 2009, 2012; Palacios 2010; Tomazos and Butler 2012). While existing research tends to focus on the volunteers, here I focus on the complex relations between the volunteers and the ‘voluntoured’ (local Panamanians). My preliminary research shows significant parallels between secular international volunteers and short-term missionaries (often disparaged as partaking in ‘Christian tourism’ rather than genuine religious service). Specifically, both types of volunteers tend to exude a similar missionary zeal and the dual goal of enriching (or even ‘transforming’) their own lives while ‘helping others;’ both envision themselves as embarking on sacred journeys (Cohen 1979; Graburn 1989). In addition to empirically addressing questions about privilege and power, and whether (or how) international volunteering inadvertently perpetuates global inequalities, this research illuminates the difficulties in negotiating respect across unequal social positions and in interactions between seemingly agnostic local hosts and foreign guests on sacred journeys

Domestic and transnational perspectives on democratization

The disciplinary separation between comparative politics and international relations is regularly challenged but persists as a result of institutional inertia and hiring practices. This essay uses the issue of democratization in an attempt to go beyond rhetoric and to develop a framework that integrates the role of transnational activism into the analysis of domestic regime change. Comparative research on democratization confirms that underlying socioeconomic conditions affect the long-term sustainability of democratic reforms. The initiation of such reforms, as well as the process they take, can best be understood using an agency-based framework that links domestic and transnational forces. Outside interventions are a potent factor in challenging authoritarian practices, but they do not simply displace existing domestic practices and conditions. Although transnational activists and scholars often celebrate the empowering role of networking and mobilization, the long-term effects of such interventions are still poorly understood. Transnational ties may distract domestic activists from building effective coalitions at home or undermine their legitimacy overall. Transnational scholars and activists can learn from comparative research how different domestic groups use outside interventions to promote their interests at home