[Dancecult-l] violence

[ripley]

There's a lot of scholarship on the effect of tourism on an economy or
a region. Violence, direct and indirect, especially against the poor
is one of the more common.

What I was primarily thinking of was state-sponsored violence against
local populations to keep the area safe and pleasant for relatively
moneyed visitors from out of town.

When I say "tourist economies" I'm thinking of places that depend on
tourism for their primary economic support. These places tend to be
poor. they tend also to have great income inequality, and the greatest
disparity of all is often between the tourists and the majority of the
population. add to that the possibility of visitors treating the place
that hosts them as a sort of personal playground that does not exist
after they leave, and you have plenty of possibilities for tension and
redistribution, sure.

But beyond that, governments that depend on tourism have to keep a
firm grip on that tension and try to keep tourists happy. This often
means severe repression of the poor, including keeping a place looking
attractive by  "cleaning up" the streets of the homeless, disabled and
destitute, etc etc.

And then, in poor and wealthy nations, the state or private interests
simply displacing the poor for the real estate to cater  to more
tourists.

that's part of what I was getting at, although the larger effects of
tourist economics on human rights is pretty well-studied.

examples? Jamaica (the gated areas that are advertised as "safe"),
Cuba under Batista, Miami, Goa
(http://india.indymedia.org/en/2004/07/209583.shtml)

http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/campaigns/human-rights.html
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/s1861367.htm
http://en.epochtimes.com/news/5-9-16/32390.html
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/jhr/2004/00000008/00000003/art00002

etc etc..

bringing it back more specifically, I do see some parallels between
some partying-on-the-beach events and the concerns outlined above..
does anyone else?

regards

-Larisa


-Larisa

-- 
http://djripley.blogspot.com
http://riddimmethod.net (group music blog)
http://biplog.boalt.org (law blog)
http://wiretapmag.org


On 5/13/07, Adam Walker <de_proginosko at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Larisa,
>
> You wrote:
> "in discussing both concepts of
> violence and raves, I'm thinking of raves that occur in places like
> ibiza, or on various beaches in the Global South, do we include the
> violence required by tourist economies to make places safe for these
> kind of parties?"
>
> Can you extrapolate a bit more on this? Can you give example of the violence
> "required by tourist economies".
>
> Cheers,
> Adam
>
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