11 research outputs found
The fantasy of authenticity: touring with Lacan
Amidst the plethora of research regarding the meaning of authenticity, there remains uncertainty as to the work authenticity performs in tourism. Existential authenticity conceptually shifts focus from the objects of touristic practice to a sense of Being, suggesting that authenticity can be achieved, albeit only in the liminal moments of tourism experiences. Psychoanalysis would contend otherwise â authenticity will always be beyond our reach. In a 2006 publication, Tim Oakes broaches the topic when discussing authenticity as âan abyssâ. We revisit that idea, developing it further through the lens of Lacanian psychoanalysis to argue that authenticity is a fantasy. It is not an empty concept, however, but like all fantasies authenticity does important work, particularly in tourism marketing and touristic motivation and experience. To better understand how authenticity as a fantasy fosters tourism desire, it is necessary to develop a conceptual understanding of alienation in relation to tourism motivation. This paper moves alienation from the periphery to the center of tourism theories, demonstrates the dialectical relationship of authenticity/alienation, and posits that as a fantasy authenticity is a malleable concept that has the ability to contextualize the âsomethingâ that is missing from our lives. As such, it will remain salient in tourism
Wilderness state of mind: expanding authenticity
This paper challenges the overuse of existential authenticity as a categorical umbrella encapsulating touristic experience and contributes new insights to the way postmodern authenticity is defined in tourism research. To date, studies associated with postmodern authenticity have focused on the inauthentic and themed, with scholars contending that it speaks more to the consumptive, the superficial, and the trivial than to the substantive and meaningful. By working through a case study focused on nature tourists in pursuit of authentic wilderness experiences, this paper illustrates the ways postmodern authenticity encompasses much more than cynical authenticity, for while the American wilderness may be a hyperreal, and even hypernatural, simulacrum, nature tourists nevertheless report deep, meaningful, and " authentic " engagements with wilderness
Contesting authentic practice and ethical authority in adventure tourism
This paper examines the discourses of authenticity and ethics used among adventure tourists regarding the use of the natural environment. In one case, full-time traveling rock climbers use their dedication to the sport and annual visits to the Red River Gorge as evidence for their authoritative voice on ethical climbing practice. While they identify the growing numbers of leisure climbers as a problem for sustainability, many also take up temporary employment as guides and are directly involved in the introduction of new climbers to the area. In another case, two groups of wilderness enthusiasts â âADK 46ersâ and âSummit Stewardsâ â lament the environmental and social impacts of other recreational users in the Adirondack Park. Despite being visitors themselves, Summit Stewards and 46ers use their sense of place and knowledge of Adirondack history and ecology to substantiate their authority as purveyors of ethical practice. In both cases, senses of responsibility are inspired by senses of place, but are articulated through notions of authenticity and used as justification for ethical authority. While validating their presence in these outdoor spaces, the use of such rhetoric also minimizes their own impacts yielding further tensions among user groups
Anything but a Walk in the Park: Framing Analysis of the Adirondack State Park Land Classification Conflict
State and national park land management is rife with conflict, be it either over how land is managed within the park or how it affects adjacent private lands. The Adirondack Park in upstate New York is an especially interesting case due to its unique mix of public and private lands within the boundaries of the park, often referred to as the Blue Line. A recent land acquisition by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the resultant land classification process is the most recent conflict in the region in a long line of land use/land designation conflicts. In the wake of recent attempts for greater collaboration, we explored this conflict by conducting a framing analysis of both stakeholders' online presence (i.e., websites and blogs) and local news media coverage of the classification process. Primary stakeholders included local town residents, sportsmen groups, NYSDEC, Adirondack Park Agency, local government, and environmental groups. We found that stakeholder groups' online materials utilized frames to describe their objectives based on different values. Dominant frames included a âreasonable accessâ frame used by residents and town officials to highlight rights to accessible use. Environmental groups heavily used an âenvironmental protectionâ frame, highlighting the ecologically important wetlands and opportunity to increase lands designated as âWilderness.â In news media articles, the dominant frame was the âconflict frame,â portraying the decision-making process as riddled with tension and incompatibility. These frames indicate that the conflict over land classification stems from different values of accessibility and strong wilderness protection as well as being communicated as intractable by the media
Alienation and anxiety in tourism motivation
Although underexplored in tourism studies, recent work suggests theories of alienation, as the dialectic of authenticity, have much to contribute to our understanding of tourism motivation. This paper uses three major theoretical tropes (Marxism, existentialism, and Lacanian psychoanalysis) to examine the role of alienation in the motivations of hiking and rock climbing tourists. In particular, these tourists describe only temporary and retrospective relief from anxiety, articulating authenticity as an elusive experience that lies at the horizon, in the next adventure, or in the past as a memory. Alienation is an ever-present component of the human condition, and as such, anxiety is omnipresent in our lives, contributing significantly to touristic desires for escape, rejuvenation, and existential experiences
Irreconcilable differences: Divorcing ethics from existential authenticity
While authenticity has long been a major theme, albeit a highly debated one, in tourism studies, in the past two decades the more specific concept of existential authenticity has garnered considerable attention (see Wang, 1999; Steiner & Reisinger, 2006; Kim & Jamal, 2007; Belhassen, Caton, & Steward, 2008; Brown, 2012; Rickly-Boyd, 2012a, 2013; Gnoth & Wang, 2015; Kirillova & Lehto, 2015; Shepherd, 2015; Knudsen, Rickly, & Vidon, 2016; Gillen, 2016; Kirillova, 2019; Canavan, 2019). Its conceptual openness in relation to performativity, embodiment, affect, (inter-)subjectivity, and so on, has inspired a new wave of tourism research. However, this research has, in some instances, overreached in its application of the concept without consideration for the limitations of existentialism as its underlying philosophical foundation. A revival of philosophically-driven authenticity research has been most welcome in combatting this trend (see Steiner & Reisinger, 2006; Brown, 2012; Rickly-Boyd, 2012a; Knudsen, Rickly, & Vidon, 2016; Wassler & Kirillova, 2019; Kirillova, 2019; Canavan, 2019)
Privileging Consumptive Use: A Critique of Ideology, Power, and Discourse in the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation
The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation (NAMWC) defines the unique style of conservation in the North American continent which is comprised of equal and ethical public access to natural resources that are ostensibly held in trust for them by the state. Since the NAMWC was first articulated as a concept, many wildlife specialists and curriculum developers in North America have adopted the seven tenets of the model as a representation of conservation history and an important component of future management strategies. In an ideological critique of the model, we argue that its narrow stakeholder focus and ideological representation limits both a broader spectrum of citizen involvement in wildlife management decisions and the future applicability of the model due to changing values toward nature. We draw on discourse and hegemony theory to critique written descriptions of the tenets from Geist et al. (2001) and other academic and popular literature addressing the model. We found that the NAMWC focuses its rhetoric on hunters and wildlife management practitioners, but excludes or marginalises non-consumptive users, policy-makers and other conservation practitioners. We argue for a broadening of the philosophical model to accommodate a variety of ideologies and diffuse powerful interests that have built up around the model
Watershed âchemical cocktailsâ: forming novel elemental combinations in Anthropocene fresh waters
Este artĂculo contiene 25 pĂĄginas, 9 figuras.In the Anthropocene, watershed chemical
transport is increasingly dominated by novel combinations
of elements, which are hydrologically linked
together as âchemical cocktails.â Chemical cocktails
are novel because human activities greatly enhance
elemental concentrations and their probability for
biogeochemical interactions and shared transport
along hydrologic flowpaths. A new chemical cocktail
approach advances our ability to: trace contaminant
mixtures in watersheds, develop chemical proxies
with high-resolution sensor data, and manage multiple
water quality problems. We explore the following
questions: (1) Can we classify elemental transport in
watersheds as chemical cocktails using a new
approach? (2) What is the role of climate and land
use in enhancing the formation and transport of
chemical cocktails in watersheds? To address these
questions, we first analyze trends in concentrations of
carbon, nutrients, metals, and salts in fresh waters over
100 years. Next, we explore how climate and land use
enhance the probability of formation of chemical
cocktails of carbon, nutrients, metals, and salts. Ultimately, we classify transport of chemical cocktails
based on solubility, mobility, reactivity, and dominant
phases: (1) sieved chemical cocktails (e.g., particulate
forms of nutrients, metals and organic matter); (2)
filtered chemical cocktails (e.g., dissolved organic
matter and associated metal complexes); (3) chromatographic
chemical cocktails (e.g., ions eluted from
soil exchange sites); and (4) reactive chemical cocktails
(e.g., limiting nutrients and redox sensitive
elements). Typically, contaminants are regulated and
managed one element at a time, even though combinations
of elements interact to influence many water
quality problems such as toxicity to life, eutrophication,
infrastructure corrosion, and water treatment. A
chemical cocktail approach significantly expands
evaluations of water quality signatures and impacts
beyond single elements to mixtures. High-frequency
sensor data (pH, specific conductance, turbidity, etc.)
can serve as proxies for chemical cocktails and
improve real-time analyses of water quality violations,
identify regulatory needs, and track water quality
recovery following storms and extreme climate
events. Ultimately, a watershed chemical cocktail
approach is necessary for effectively co-managing
groups of contaminants and provides a more holistic
approach for studying, monitoring, and managing
water quality in the Anthropocene.This work was funded by USDA (award
# 2016-67019-25280) and NSF-EPSCoR (#1641157) for
supporting collaborations at the AGU Chapman Conference
on Extreme Climate Events. Significant funding for data
collection/analyses in this paper was provided by NSF
EAR1521224, NSF CBET1058502, NSF Coastal
SEES1426844, NSF DEB-0423476 and DEB-1027188, NSF
RI EPSCoR NEWRnet Grant No. IIA-1330406, EPA ORD,
Chesapeake Bay Trust, and Multi-state Regional Hatch Project
S-1063.Peer reviewe