This thesis involves the submission of published academic work with a critical commentary, in accordance with the regulations of the University of the West of England on Supervised DPhil degrees. ...Nine papers are submitted, published from 1998 to 2013. Although their subject matter is diverse, I argue in the critical commentary that the work is concerned with critical organizational history and historiography, counterfactuals and modality, and connections, boundaries and identity. The works submitted are theoretical rather than empirical in nature (hence 'theory' in the thesis title) and are thematically connected either by a focus on practice (academic practice, or in and around organizations more generally; hence 'practice'), or by a concern with connecting separate bodies of theory or disciplinary areas (hence 'boundary work'), or both. There are also common themes connecting the papers, in as much as organizational history - broadly conceived as the connection between the organizational past and present, and its interpretation, representation, and so on - and strategy (traditionally and historically concerned with organizational action which connects the present to the future) remain a major focus. The second clause of the thesis title is intended to reflect these concerns. In the introduction to the commentary I briefly comment on the title of the thesis and its relation to the selected papers, list the papers selected for the thesis, and outline the structure of the commentary. I then discuss in the second major section of the commentary, the background to the studies, their themes, and their originality and significance. In a sub-section, I briefly reflect upon their influence and impact, referring among other things to citation data presented as part of the commentary. I then provide a methodologically informed account of the papers, describing and assessing the extent of research competence displayed, as well as discussing the approaches to theory and theorising in the different papers presented. Finally, I clarify, on a paper by paper basis, my personal research contribution to each of the studies, before concluding the commentary with a final reflection on the work submitted.
La antigua finca de Pablo Escobar, ‘Hacienda Nápoles’ (Puerto Triunfo, Colombia), se convirtió en 2007 en el destino turístico ‘Parque Temático Hacienda Nápoles’ gracias a sus atracciones acuáticas y ...sus animales exóticos. El Parque también alberga un pequeño museo en torno a la figura de Escobar. Hacemos una radiografía del Parque tal y como se presenta en 2019. Partimos del concepto de ‘herencia difícil’ para explicar la tensión entre la voluntad de borrar el pasado y de aprovecharlo para el turismo. Luego analizamos la narrativa museológica en función de los objetivos que parece asumir el museo al presentarse como un Museo Memorial y apuntamos a las dificultades que suscita su carácter dicotómico, así como su atención exclusiva hacia la violencia subjetiva y la imagen que construye del Estado colombiano.
The former finca of Pablo Escobar, ‘Hacienda Napoles’ (Puerto Triunfo, Colombia) became in 2007 the tourist destination ‘Hacienda Napoles Theme Park’ thanks to its water attractions and exotic animals. The park also houses a small museum around the figure of Escobar. We study the park as it is presented in 2019, departing from the concept of ‘difficult heritage’ to explain the tension between the desire to erase the past and to use it for tourism. We then analyze the museological narrative from the viewpoint of the objectives it seems to assume by presenting itself as a Memorial Museum and we point to the difficulties caused by its dichotomous nature, its exclusive attention to subjective violence and the image it represents of the Colombian State.
Slavery, Contested Heritage and Thanatourism Dann, Graham M. S.; Seaton, A. V.
International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration,
10/2001, Volume:
2, Issue:
3-4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
This article introduces a collection of eight revised papers that focus on the connection between slavery and tourism. After tracing the history of the former from its origins to the present day, and ...after providing some examples of related attractions, it confronts a number of dilemmas associated with their juxtaposition. A brief overview of the contributions to the volume is supplied, along with some epistemological and methodological concerns that they raise. Slavery tourism is finally contextualized within a framework of thanatourism, dark tourism and dissonant heritage, a field which in turn poses several questions for further research into this new and exciting phenomenon.
Auschwitz-Birkenau is the main example provided by researchers whenever dark tourism and thanatourism are used as principal analytical concepts. Theoretically, this example is considered one of the ...darkest tourism sites. Focusing on this kind of places, as well as on other places with different degrees of authenticity, macabre, emotions and tourism motivation, this study aims to research whether dark tourism and thanatourism are a distinct type of tourism or they only represent analytical tools. Starting with a quick look at the history of the concept that leads to some theoretical aspects (terminology, definitions, classification, spectrums and controversies), conceptual research meant to explain the typology/instrument dilemma has been done. The results of the research reveal that this domain is still very new, with many theoretical controversies and obstacles, and dark tourism and thanatourism are only analytical tools which help us understand the evolution of the current patrimonial and cultural tourism. Moreover, our data shows that dark tourism includes thanatourism, but it does not create a distinct, clearly defined form of tourism. The usefulness of this analytical tool is not the ultimate assertion of a distinct form of tourism, but to adapt existing and future sites to the needs and motivations of tourists.
Tourism visits to sites associated to varying degrees with death and dying have for some time inspired academic debate and research into what has come to be popularly described as ‘dark tourism’. ...Research to date has been based on the mobilisation of various social scientific methodologies to understand issues such as the motivations of visitors to consume dark tourism experiences and visitor interpretations of the various narratives that are part of the consumption experience. This thesis offers an alternative conceptual perspective for carrying out research into museums that represent genocide and occupation by presenting a discourse analysis of five Lithuanian museums which share this overchig theme using Foucault’s concept of ‘discursive formation’ from ‘Archaeology of Knowledge’. A constructivist methodology is therefore applied to locate the rhetorical representations of Lithuanian and Jewish subject positions and to identify the objects of discourse that are produced in five museums that interpret an historical era defined by occupation, the persecution of people and genocide. The discourses and consequent cultural function of these museums is examined and the key finding of the research proposes that they authorise a particular Lithuanian individualism which marginalises the Jewish subject position and its related objects of discourse into abstraction. The thesis suggests that these museums create the possibility to undermine the ontological stability of Holocaust and the Jewish-Lithuanian subject which is produced as an anomalous, ‘non-Lithuanian’ cultural reference point. As with any Foucauldian archaeological research, it cannot be offered as something that is ‘complete’ since it captures only a partial field, or snapshot of knowledge, bound to a specific temporal and spatial context. The discourses that have been identified are perhaps part of a more elusive ‘positivity’ which is salient across a number of cultural and political surfaces which are ripe for a similar analytical approach in future. It is hoped that the study will motivate others to follow a discourse-analytical approach to research in order to further understand the critical role of museums in public culture when it comes to shaping knowledge about ‘inconvenient’ pasts.
Aiming to register Hidden Christian Sites as world heritage sites in 2016, ICOMOS admitted that the “universal value of Christian practices in Japan was remarkable just as a prohibited religion ...(hiding) period itself” and it was pointed out that registration in spite of the present condition was very difficult. In response to this, the Japanese government was forced to take measures, such as the changing of peripheral assets, and other major changes, in the name of heritage. That is, the establishment of a narrative interpretation centering on what is called “negative history,” such as the persecution of believers, oppression, rebellion, suppression, and conflict over conversion, became the biggest barrier to registration. Therefore, as for the tourism of related peripheral assets, development would also be inevitably seen from that angle. In that case, the technique of dark tourism focuses on the journey of the prayer for negative history, and it would be useful for tourists to obtain prior comprehension and handle those narrative aspects before the tour. On the other hand, the local community, which has shown an understanding of the activity of heritage registration based on the church construction of the revival period, is asked for consideration and their careful acceptance of the technique. In that case, tourism education would be important for mediating between hosts and guests. Based on this acknowledgment, the penetration of the term “Dark Tourism” as a form of science communication, even if dark tourism is not dared to be advocated, can help plan substantial measures. Therefore, both interactions become indispensable.
Tourism as a dynamic phenomenon has a wonderful capacity to change, adapt and evolve. At the beginning of the 21st Century we are witnessing a growing demand from tourists for amazing and bizarre ...experiences, and more extreme and unusual environments. Written by leading researchers from around the world, New Horizons in Tourism, examines this new wave of tourism. It presents a host of examples of out-of-the-ordinary tourism including cutting-edge tourism activities such as vacationing in space and discovering the forbidden lands of Antarctica and Arctic regions. It also explores the trends of pro-poor and volunteer tourism, ecotourism, the rise in the number of footloose senior citizens, and the growing attraction of areas of conflict and atrocity.
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