The Anthropocene originates from natural science, but the concept has during a relatively short period of time managed to spread into other domains. As this volume shows, the time has now also come to the field of tourism studies. In my understanding, this evolving ‘Anthropocene turn’ across the sciences and the humanities is a set of mapping expeditions which have in common that they explore assumptions and consequences of earthly life and existence under the spell of geological forces, earthly boundaries and planetary limits. The quest for the map-maker is thus to decipher what the Anthropocene means, to which phenomena and state of affairs it refers, and to identify potential implications. The particular query to be addressed here is how tourism could enter and find a place in the grand Anthropocene and planetary scheme of things. Consequently, the exploratory aim of this chapter is to tentatively map out some of the issues and challenges that the concept of the Anthropocene poses for the theorization of tourism.
About the Book
This book brings the field of tourism into dialogue with what is captured under the varied notions of the Anthropocene. It explores issues and challenges which the Anthropocene may pose for tourism, and it offers significant insights into how it might reframe conceptual and empirical undertakings in tourism research. Furthermore, through the lens of the Anthropocene this book also spurs thinking of the role of tourism in relation to sustainable development, planetary boundaries, ethics (and what is framed as geo-ethics) and refocused tourism theory to make sense of tourism’s earthly entanglements and thinking tourism beyond Nature-Society. The multidisciplinary nature of the material will appeal to a broad academic audience, such as those working in tourism, geography, anthropology and sociology.