Representing and interpreting reality in dharavi, mumbai peter dyson 052012. I was a slum tourist, paying to see areas of intense poverty. The exploratory and descriptive survey research design was used. Authors peter dyson date 052012 volume 14 issue 2 page start 254 page end 274 doi 10. Volume 14 issue 2 of tourism geographies will be titled global perspectives on slum tourism and is completely dedicated to the subject. There is a wellestablished slum area in mumbai called dharavi, one of asias largest slum areas that you can see here.
A necessity abdul rahman mahayni hussein medlej english. Tourism or voyeurism, an article that quoted outterson. Unlimited viewing of the articlechapter pdf and any. Geographer peter dyson adds to this, stating that by exploring the complex geography and. In 2014, over one million tourists visited a township, a. Last week a new book on slum tourism was published by routledge publications. The oscarwinning film increased demand for companies organizing guided tours into asias biggest slum. The purpose of slum tourism is to provide tourists the opportunity to see the nontouristy areas of a country or city. Abstract this article contests the characterisation of the popular and acclaimed film, slumdog millionaire, as a realistic portrayal of indias urban poverty that will ultimately serve as a tool of advocacy for indias urban poor. Slum tourism in india,famous slum tours in mumbai,dharavi. Pete dyson principal behavioural scientist department. One of those questions pertains to how do the locals feel about slum tourism. Brazilian favelas have been a popular attraction for tourists coming to the country for some time. Poorism as a global trend in the field of marketing.
In 2014, over one million tourists visited a township, a favela, a barrio or a slum in some part of the world. Poverty tourism or poorism, also known as township tourism or slumming, is a type of tourism, in which tourists travel to lessdeveloped places to observe people living in poverty. It points to the rapid growth of slum tourism research in recent years and highlights the main avenues that. The world discovered dharavi because of the movie slumdog millionaire. Originally focused on the slums and ghettos of london and manhattan in the 19th century, slum tourism is now prominent in south africa, india, brazil, kenya, philippines, and the united states. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our cookie policy. Slums introduction a slum refers to informal settlements within urban areas or cities the informal settlements depict inadequate housing and miserable condition with reference to living standards meade p 43. Kibera slum residents towards the development of slum tourism.
Representing and interpreting reality in dharavi, mumbai peter dyson department of geography, emmanuel college, university of cambridge, uk. The slum dwellers experience the victorian trend for slum tourism. This article examines how dharavi is represented to, and interpreted by, tourists participating in walking tours around mumbais largest slum. This article provides a view on the stateoftheart literature on slum tourism. When frenzel and koens 2012 say that slum tourism is a product that has.
Zslumming has a long tradition in the global north, for example. On the one hand, proponents of poverty tourism argue that this form of tourism can contribute to a change in the representation of the slums and its people and that slum tourism is a legitimate way to fight poverty. Shyamal sengupta, a film professor at the whistling woods international institute in mumbai, condemns the film for being a poverty tour. Impoverished urban areas have always enticed the popular imagination, considered to be places of zotherness, zmoral decay, zdeviant liberty or zauthenticity. Aug 10, 2014 despite the growing popularity of slum tours there is much criticism and controversy in relation to this form of tourism. Critics point out the negative effects of slum tours on the lives of local people. The end of apartheid in south africa fueled a more politicallyoriented type of township tour while rocinha has been receiving tourists for years some 50,000 a year now. This article examines the discourse surrounding kibera, a highly populated lowincome community in nairobi, kenya. A case study on india catalina gomez december 4, 20 collst 499. That argument was mainly was about charities that combat poverty and how slum tourism also combats poverty by encouraging donations.
Slum tourism has been around since victorian times, when wealthy londoners trudged down to the east end for a view. The purpose of this essay is to address mutually beneficial cases of poverty tourism and advance the following positions. A link has also been made to film tourism research in respect of slumdog millionaire and the subsequent increase in slum tourism in mumbai mendes 2010. To elaborate on the problem of poverty, peter obrien states that research is. Feb 15, 2018 while these are all true and unfortunate, i do not believe that slum tourism does not help the poor, at least not longterm. India, mumbai, dharavi, slum tourism, poverty tourism, poorism, slumming. The concept of slum tourism has been branded exploitative. As mentioned in the previous post a new book slum tourism has recently been published with routledge pubilications. Slum tourism is an expanding domain of research focused on organized tours to poorer areas of cities in the global south, such as south africas urban townships. Tourism associated with this question is commonly referred to as poverty tourism. The slum tourism in mumbai is growing at fast pace.
The tourist valorization of urban poverty, published by zed books. According to slum tour operators, tourists use this as an opportunity to learn about real slum life. In mumbai, tours of the sprawling slum dharavi skyrocketed in popularity after. Slumming was added to the oxford english dictionary in the 1860s, meaning to go into, or frequent. Reflections on the production and consumption of poverty in tourism. Pdf click to increase image size click to decrease. Whether called a township, a favela, a barrio, a slum, a shantytown, or a ghetto, outsiders recreationally visiting these typically impoverished places is nothing new. The pro is exaggerating the benefits of slum tourism 2. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Slum tourism is one of the fastestgrowing niche tourism segments in the world, but it is also one of the most controversial. Slum tourism or the concept of visiting less developed. Abhay chauhan, pratyush patwari, pete dyson, and dr.
The paper examines the role of slum tourism in poverty relief. View pete dyson s profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community. Impoverished urban areas have always enticed the popular imagination, considered to be places of otherness, moral decay, deviant liberty or authenticity. Slum tourism the good, the bad, and the ugly aid leap. Minimal acknowledgement is given to the role of these areas as potential source regions for tourism. Slum tourism has a long history during the late 1800s, lines of wealthy new yorkers snaked along the bowery and through the lower east side to see how the other half lives. Fabian frenzel, ko koaens and malte steinbrink eds.
The study focused on assessing slum tourism as a viable tourism option. Slum discourse, media representations and maisha mtaani in. The perspectives on poverty relief in slum tourism differ to those in other forms of tourism in ldc and dc. Mar 05, 2018 today i would like to focus on the topic of slum tourism in south africa, also known as township tourism.
Poverty, power and ethics edited by fabian frenzel, ko koens and malte steinbrink eds. Poverty, power and ethics edited by fabian frenzel, ko koens and. According to dyson 2012 the slum is positioned as space more authentic and. To do so, it surveys the stateoftheart literature on tourism and poverty and investigates the ways in which slum tourism research. Jun 24, 2016 this is an extract from the introduction to slumming it. If slum tourism is seen as a cultural practice in which the social question is posited and addressed, then moral outrage over its practice becomes more dubious. A study of slum tourism travel motivations scholarlycommons. To mumbai dwellers, especially expatriates, the concept of slum tourism, poverty tourism, poorism or simply slumming it needs no introduction. The first ever special issue on slum tourism in an academic journal will soon be out. Jun 15, 2016 although there are a number of terms used to name this controversial phenomenon, including, poverty tourism, slum tourism, favela tours, and reality tours they all describe the same practice. Slum tourism, also sometimes referred to as ghetto tourism, involves tourism to impoverished areas, particularly in india, brazil, kenya, and indonesia. Join researchgate to discover and stay uptodate with the. Representing and interpreting reality in dharavi, mumbai good intentions, the poverty tourism debate. Mar 15, 2016 inside the very real world of slum tourism by mark ellwood.
Bee fits of slum tourism i kibera slum i a irobi, key a peninah chege and andanje mwisukha kenyatta university, kenya abstract the study focused on assessing slum tourism as a viable tourism option. While the daily life of residents is the primary attraction of slum tourism, they do not receive any. Shyamal sengupta, a film professor at the whistling woods international institute in mumbai. Poverty, power and ethics edited by fabian frenzel. Apr 10, 2014 the paper examines the role of slum tourism in poverty relief.
By closing this message, you are consenting to our use of cookies. We are happy to announce that we can offer a 20% discount on the book to followers of to order the copy with the discount code, simply quote slumtour12 when placing your order online alternatively, you can print the slum tourism flyer pdf, 1mb in size and. Representing and interpreting reality in dharavi, mumbai peter dyson department of geography, emmanuel college, university of cambridge, uk pages 254274. Across the world the slum is positioned as space more authentic and realistic than the artifice of the concrete cityscape, as demonstrated by the recent fascination surrounding slumdog millionaire. Slum tourism is a globalizing trend and a controversial form of tourism. Mar 05, 2018 the article, travel research how do locals feel about the practice of slum tourism, by jessica norah provoked many questions on the topic of slum tourism. May 06, 2014 the guy pulling the log was of course right. Jul 27, 2017 slum tourism is a worldwide travel trend thats growing right alongside the worlds exploding urban populations.
These differences include the muchobserved paradox about slum tour ism and poverty alleviation. Board and victoria safaris towards slum tourism, determine the benefits of slum tourism to kibera slum dwellers, establish measures to be taken to promote slum tourism in kibera and to determine the viability of slum tourism as a tourism product. While some poverty tourism is plausibly ethical, other practices will be more controversial. To do so, it surveys the stateoftheart literature on tourism and poverty and investigates the ways in which slum tourism. Slum tourism is not a new phenomenon, although much has changed since its beginning.
Mainstream scholarship in slum tourism is dominated by research which investigates urban slums as destinations for international travellers mainly from the global north. Slum tourism has been criticized for potentially exploiting the communities it visits. Peter dyson, department of geography, university of cambridge. Slum tourism has come under considerable intelligent criticism, including from kennedy odede and jamal osman.
The earliest form of poverty tourism can be traced to the 1800s in london. By connecting slum tourism to debates over the ethics and aesthetics of travel, volunteering, second homes and cross border mobility, the chapters provide ample ground for an understanding of slum tourism as transversal terrain in which questions of global equity come to the fore. If you want to learn more about slum tourism in south africa, read on. Dharavi and the tensions between different constructions of reality supriya chotani. Slum tourism is defined as the practice of travelers visiting poor urban areas of the global south to view its impoverished conditions and understand more of the lifestyles of local inhabitants. The aim is to contribute towards a reframing of scholarship on slum tourism by directing attention to the phenomenon of tourism development oc. Edited by fabian frenzel, ko koens and malte steinbrink, it contains both theoretically oriented papers papers as well as more practical case study examples of slum tourism of seven different countries on four continent. Despite the growing popularity of slum tours there is much criticism and controversy in relation to this form of tourism. Emmanuel college, department of geography, university of cambridge. These critiques are eloquently summed up by the quote above. Slum tourism is a growing topic in international tourism scholarship.
In this sense slum tourism is one of the many empirical domains, the cultural and symbolic practices, that attempt to come to terms with poverty and inequality. Slum tourism, poverty tourism, or ghetto tourism is a type of city tourism that involves visiting impoverished areas. Based on 11 months of fieldwork and interviews with 56 kibera residents, this article discusses the disconnect between the lives experienced by residents and the hyperbolic and essentialised discourse that depicts kibera as a community defined by sickness, crime and despair. Slum tourism is the organization of tours in these areas. Ties how can travellers find authentic experiences that. Representing and interpreting reality in dharavi, mumbai. Poorism is often referred to as poverty tourism or slum tourism. Tourism concern, slum povertyfavela tourism peter dyson, slum tourism. Inside the very real world of slum tourism conde nast. Whether called a township, a favela, a barrio, a slum, a shantytown, or a ghetto, outsiders recreationally visiting these.
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