Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage

Book Description

Destination Culture takes the reader on an eye-opening journey from ethnological artifacts to kitsch. Posing the question, "What does it mean to show?" Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett explores the agency of display in a variety of settings: museums, festivals, world's fairs, historical re-creations, memorials, and tourist attractions. She talks about how objects--and people--are made to "perform" their meaning for us by the very fact of being collected and exhibited, and about how specific techniques of display, not just the things shown, convey powerful messages.
Her engaging analysis shows how museums compete with tourism in the production of "heritage." To make themselves profitable, museums are marketing themselves as tourist attractions. To make locations into destinations, tourism is staging the world as a museum of itself. Both promise to deliver heritage. Although heritage is marketed as something old, she argues that heritage is actually a new mode of cultural production that gives a second life to dying ways of life, economies, and places. The book concludes with a lively commentary on the "good taste/bad taste" debate in the ephemeral "museum of the life world," where everyone is a curator of sorts and the process of converting life into heritage begins.

Customer Reviews:

Destinations Discussed -- Culturally Speaking.......2006-11-18

The central theme in this book is an extended answer to the big question "What does it mean to show?" It's a very broad topic. But I like the way that Kirshenblatt-Gimblett focuses her discussion by posing engaging rhetorical questions and lucid statements of interesting research topics which provide a solid base for her analysis. The variety of topics is fascinating. It's intriguing to read a single volume that deals with the history of museums in connection to tourism, Jewish self-representation in worlds' fairs, Ellis Island as a tourist site, Plimoth Plantation's living history programs, arts and folklife festivals as forms of avant-garde theater, and scholarly analysis of a catalogue of bad taste. The disparate essays are actually pretty unified as they are arranged thematically to explore how the processes of exhibiting cultural artifacts is embedded in a vast network of academic and cultural institutions, how displaying material culture is related to the construction of heritage, how the tropes and schemes of ethnographic study and display are connected with wider issues in museums and festival presentations, and a concluding chapter that examines the shifting criteria for standards of taste and its inherent relationships to the circulation of value within society. The writing is interesting and often challenging, and it opens numerous questions for further reflection and discussion.

Average customer rating:

Fast Food Nation - Eye opening read
Eye Opening
Alarming!
If you've ever eaten a hamburger and can read, then you shouldn't go another day without reading this book.
THIS is your McWake Up Call

Fast Food Nation
Eric Schlosser
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Chew On This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
Super Size Me
Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World

ASIN: 0395977894

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its thriftiness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems as American, and harmless, as apple pie. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenization, and speed has radically transformed America's diet, landscape, economy, and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways. Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. Quickly, however, he moves behind the counter with the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavor company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns." Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--feces in your meat.

Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of federal oversight of a seemingly lawless industry. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting, and unsanitary practices that introduce E. coli and other pathogens into restaurants, public schools, and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young," insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behavior," he writes. Where to begin? Ask yourself, is the true cost of having it "your way" really worth it? --Lesley Reed

Book Description

Are we what we eat? To a degree both engrossing and alarming, the story of fast food is the story of postwar Amerca. Though created by a handful of mavericks, the fast food industry has triggered the homogenization of our society. Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled the juggernaut of American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning. Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from the California subdivisions where the business was born to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike where many of fast food's flavors are concocted. He hangs out with the teenagers who make the restaurants run and communes with those unlucky enough to hold America's most dangerous job -- meatpacker. He travels to Las Vegas for a giddily surreal franchisers' convention where Mikhail Gorbachev delivers the keynote address. He even ventures to England and Germany to clock the rate at which those countries are becoming fast food nations. Along the way, Schlosser unearths a trove of fascinating, unsettling truths -- from the unholy alliance between fast food and Hollywood to the seismic changes the industry has wrought in food production, popular culture, and even real estate. He also uncovers the fast food chains' efforts to reel in the youngest, most susceptible consumers even while they hone their institutionalized exploitation of teenagers and minorities. Schlosser then turns a critical eye toward the hot topic of globalization -- a phenomenon launched by fast food. FAST FOOD NATION is a groundbreaking work of investigation and cultural history that may change the way America thinks about the way it eats.

Customer Reviews:

Fast Food Nation - Eye opening read.......2007-10-04

This is a very well researched and written tome that I would recommend to anyone interested in how big agribusiness works. Cynical by nature, I'm even more so after reading the book, especially when it comes to politics and big business. If you read nothing else, check out the chapter on the slaughterhouse. Egad.

I look forward to reading Schlosser's other book, Refer Madness.

Eye Opening.......2007-09-29

After reading the book, I became so appalled at the thought of eating fast food again. It's not just about health either. The sad and horrific stories about how factory workers were treated and their working conditions will wake you up. One often knows how bad fast food is, but until you read this, you won't really know just how BAD it is.

Alarming!.......2007-09-28

I could not put the book down. I found it so intriguing that I had to buy another copy to pass among my family and friends. I was, like the rest of the people who have read this, shocked to know exactly how the large agricultural companies operate and the feebleness with which the FDA and USDA operate.
Being a government employee myself I feel the massive budget cuts and have experienced the mounds of work displaced to employees already overwhelmed. There's no way to catch up or catch anything that is not a blatant violation. So, I'm not surprised to find out that the majority of the time the agricultural business is left to police itself.
I was skeptical by the amount of negative information in the book and wondered if this could indeed really be happening. The author, however, delivers facts and names which when investigated would have to be accurate for those details to be published -otherwise this book would have been shut down before publishing.
That said I feel the book must be on the mark. Knowing that I am more cautious, than ever, about where I purchase my food. I could not stand fast food before I read the book, which gave me relief that not eating junk food is sensible advice. Knowing what I know now I choose to cook more meals at home. I have banned the supermarket for most items that I can purchase locally -meats and vegetables. Trust in the man at Winn Dixie or Food Lion is gone.
My advice; educate yourself. Do not let this be the only source of information about the food industry. Buy locally if you can. Make a friend of your local butcher or farmer's market. Purchase in-season items -this reduces the miles your food has traveled which lessens the environmental impact of what you are eating. It'll guarantee a better quality product too. Know where your food is coming from.

If you've ever eaten a hamburger and can read, then you shouldn't go another day without reading this book........2007-09-20

This book a little difficult to read in the first chapters as they tend to remind me of old text books from highschool filled with history and facts that don't seem to affect me, but I trudged on. I'm very grateful that I did. Once you begin to realize how these mundane somewhat trivial facts begin to turn into corporate deception, lack of humanity and a threat to our very way of life, your eyes will open and you'll begin to understand the need for everyone to be made aware of these atrocities against Americans and other cultures around the world. We spend our days backseat driving our politicians and football players while something we take for granted is quietly taking control of our diet and stealing our health from us while we pay them to do it.

If you have ever eaten a hamburger or a french fry and you can read, you shouldn't go another day of your life with blinders on. READ THIS BOOK. It may save your life and the lives of your grandchildren someday.

THIS is your McWake Up Call.......2007-09-17

I am still amazed at the lines I see in the lines of fast food restaurants as I drive past many of them. Obviously, this book still has a lot of minds to change. In retrospect, it may even be preaching to the choir. That certainly does not diminish the importance of some of the statements in this book.

With over a thousand reviews, I trust that most of the reviews has already done an adequate job of reviewing the facts of this book. So I will make some general comments about the work. First even before this book, it would be ignorant to think healthy food comes from a fast food restaurant. By itself, any fried food is generally bad for you. Second, I was expecting the theme of this book to focus more on fast food establishments. Yet Schlosser's statements about the meat packing industry are staggering and frightening. I really do not have much of a desire to eat ground beef again. My third comment is more of a rhetorical question. How long will it be before the American public gets tired of the Republicans bending over backwards for business just because they continually stump for religion? The malaise of the American electorate frightens me.

The people that need to read this book most are probably waiting in line at the drive thru as we speak. When Americans learn that Ronald McDonald's food is not healthy food, perhaps the obesity epidemic in this country will dissolve. At least it will be a good first step.

The Devil behind the Mirror: Globalization and Politics in the Dominican Republic

Average customer rating:

Well Done
Excellent insight into Dominican society.

The Devil behind the Mirror: Globalization and Politics in the Dominican Republic
Steven Gregory
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520249291

Book Description

In The Devil behind the Mirror, Steven Gregory provides a compelling and intimate account of the impact that transnational processes associated with globalization are having on the lives and livelihoods of people in the Dominican Republic. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the adjacent towns of Boca Chica and Andrés, Gregory's study deftly demonstrates how transnational flows of capital, culture, and people are mediated by contextually specific power relations, politics, and history. He explores such topics as the informal economy, the making of a telenova, sex tourism, and racism and discrimination against Haitians, who occupy the lowest rung on the Dominican economic ladder. Innovative and beautifully written, The Devil behind the Mirror masterfully situates the analysis of global economic change in everyday lives.

Customer Reviews:

Well Done.......2007-08-22

This book brilliantly shows the structures in which people in tourist towns in the Dominican Republic today find themselves, and the different ways people cope with such structures.

It continues the solid tradition that Gregory established with his other works, like Black Corona.

Excellent insight into Dominican society........2007-04-06

I just spent a short time with a Church mission in a small Dominican community. So much of this study rings true, from injuries in motor scooter/car accidents, hair braiding, punitive power blackouts, and the constant concern about getting enough money to live on. On the plus side he also show the engaging personalities of so many people and their ability to live in a civil fashion despite the poverty. My one criticism might be the abstract terminology that the author uses to link the events and people he observes to world systems theory. It does not quite work and gets in the way of an otherwise excellent characterization of Dominican society. Given the paucity of authentic studies of Dominican society, it is fortunate that we have this work to enhance our understanding.

Average customer rating:

Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies
Melanie Smith
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0415256380

Book Description

Issues in Cultural Tourism Studies examines the phenomenon of cultural tourism in its broadest sense. Drawing on post-modern perspectives, it emphasizes the importance of popular cultural tourism; alternative or ethnic tourism; and that of working class heritage and culture. Its main focus is the role cultural tourism plays in the globalization process and the impacts of global development on culture, traditions and identity, especially for regional, ethnic and minority groups. This text combines a rigorous and academic theoretical framework with practical case studies and real-life examples, initiatives and projects drawn from both the developed and developing world.

Golden Arches East: McDonald's in East Asia, Second Edition

Average customer rating:

Essential for any overseas business or Asian holding.
Loaded tales of the mundane and everyday
Not Your Typical Book About McDonald's Expansionism...
Fries taste better in East!
Good tale but facile understanding of business environment

Golden Arches East: McDonald's in East Asia, Second Edition

Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0804749892
Release Date: 2006-03-14

Amazon.com

What does it mean that McDonald's has become an integral part of daily life throughout East Asia--so much so, in fact, that many Asians have ceased to consider the American hamburger chain "foreign" at all? The five scholars who contribute essays to Golden Arches East have taken a novel approach to cultural anthropology. Call it hamburger historiography, perhaps, but their analysis of McDonald's ascendancy in the East has much to say about both the corporation itself and the changing values of Asian societies. Despite widespread criticism of McDonald's as a symbol of global homogeneity and environmental degradation, not all of these changes have been negative. In Hong Kong and China, for instance, McDonald's has actually contributed to improving standards of bathroom cleanliness and table manners, according to the authors. And the transformation has cut both ways; McDonalds itself has been forced to adapt to local culture and tastes. In studying how McDonald's has been assimilated into Asian societies, Watson et al. provide a fascinating portrait of cultural accommodation, compromise, and change.

Book Description

McDonald’s restaurants are found in over 100 countries, serving tens of millions of people each day. What are the cultural implications of this phenomenal success? The widely read—and widely acclaimed—Golden Arches East argues that McDonald’s has largely become divorced from its American roots and become a “local” institution for an entire generation of affluent consumers in Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul, and Tokyo. In the second edition, James L. Watson also covers recent attacks on the fast-food chain as a symbol of American imperialism, and the company’s role in the obesity controversy currently raging in the U.S. food industry, bringing the story of East Asian franchises into the twenty-first century.

Praise for the First Edition:

“Golden Arches East is a fascinating study that explores issues of globalization by focusing on the role of McDonald’s in five Asian economies and [concludes] that in many countries McDonald’s has been absorbed by local communities and become assimilated, so that it is no longer thought of as a foreign restaurant and in some ways no longer functions as one.” —Nicholas Kristof, New York Times Book Review

“This is an important book because it shows accurately and with subtlety how transnational culture emerges. It must be read by anyone interested in globalization. It is concise enough to be used for courses in anthropology and Asian studies.” —Joseph Bosco, China Journal

“The strength of this book is that the contributors contextualize not just the food side of McDonald's, but the social and cultural activity on which this culture is embedded. These are culturally rich stories from the anthropology of everyday life.” —Paul Noguchi, Journal of Asian Studies

“Here is the rare academic study that belongs in every library.”—Library Journal

Customer Reviews:

Essential for any overseas business or Asian holding........2006-12-11

McDonald's Restaurants are to be found world-wide and books have been written on their business success and approach - but GOLDEN ARCHES EAST: MCDONALD'S IN EAST ASIA is something different, providing college-level readers with a blend of cultural insights and business savvy as it traces McDonald's role in five Asian countries. Chapters provide the author's first-person insights as he journeys to five Asian countries and asks questions on McDonalds management, promotion strategies, and impact on local culture. Also included are reflections on food and marketing within these nations, making GOLDEN ARCHES EAST essential for any overseas business or Asian holding.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Loaded tales of the mundane and everyday.......2005-12-29

Golden Arches East: McDonalds in East Asia is an absorbing read that delves into more than just eating; it grapples with the big issues like the impact of local vis-à-vis the global by looking into the interplay of McDonald's in five Asian economies. Watson, et al come to the conclusion that in several spaces - particularly in Asia - McDonald's has been amalgamated into the local communities. McDonalds has integrated so well that the distinction between local and foreign has blurred. So disentangled is the distinction that McDonalds is no longer considered a foreign restaurant and arguably in many cases - such as the ones explored in this book - no longer functions as one. This is an essential book because it accurately portrays and cognizant of local nuance how a transnational culture is developing. Golden Arches East: McDonalds in East Asia is a must be read for anyone interested in globalization studies. It is accessible and to the point that is can, should be, and will be used for courses in Asian studies, Political Science, and Sociology.

At a time when academics frequently write impenetrably this book is a breath of fresh air. Golden Arches is very engaging and is deals with one straightforward question: how do countries act in response to McDonald's, and conversely what does the relation say about those countries? The inquiry is not petty. The book is an exploration of McDonald's in Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo. Undoubtedly, McDonald's has had a huge effect in Asia, impacting manners and values and also the way people interact. The most informative part of these studies is its exploration of how McDonald's changed each country. While Americans might see themselves as the bright light of global democracy and human rights its impact in countries in East Asia is proving to be more empirical.

Bathrooms in Hong Kong restaurants, according to this study had undergone a tremendous transformation. Riding into town with the McDonalds penchant for cleanliness, the other restaurants seem to have followed suit. It might seem like an exaggeration but Watson et al credits McDonald's for assisting in elevating the cleanliness and safety standard in public rest rooms in Hong Kong. Another thing that is happening in Hong Kong is the "disciplining" of the users. According to Watson et al the carceral community takes care of its own. Self reflective of exaggerating McDonalds impact in the milieu, Watson et al claim that even if McDonalds did not indeed take the active role in creating a form of queuing discipline - it s perceived to have done so .

Moving onto the perhaps the marquis section of the book, Japan's values have been changing for decades, becoming steadily more casual, and according to Watson et al McDonald's may be assisting as vehicle in that process. This proves at least one thing - that there is nothing primordial or essential about cultures but that culture and societies change, reinvent themselves, and reify their existence by the re-enforcement and performance or cultural play. To the chagrin of conservatives, this is reality. According to Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, Japan has a long standing taboo against "tachigui," (standing while eating) but that seems to be steadily breaking down. Ohnuki-Tierney suggests that perhaps the catalyst of this change is McDonald's - whose stores in Japan just did not accommodate sitting - there were no chairs. In Beijing, restaurants where known for their noise and dirt. But according to Watson et al, customers at McDonald's branches in Beijing spoke in hushed tones and were cognizant of the changing conditions regarding spitting and rubbish.

All this might look like American cultural imperialism - as is examined in the section on Seoul. However it is difficult to conceive of even the most zealous anti-American in East Asia disapproving of American exports like efficiency, smiles and clean rest rooms. The real potency of Golden Arches East: McDonalds in East Asia is that the writers place in context not just the food side of McDonald's, but more importantly the and social and cultural impact of McDonalds on these ever changing societies. These are loaded tales of the mundane and everyday. In short, this is a rare academic engagement that should reside in all libraries and spawn similar studies.

Miguel Llora

Not Your Typical Book About McDonald's Expansionism..........2002-10-12

Most books dealing with the spread of American pop culture (and pop business) influences these days like Disney, Coca-Cola and McDonald's have very little good to say about the growth of any of them in previously unexposed markets. That's why, perhaps, it comes as surprising that "Golden Arches East" comes out with a mostly positive look at the effect McDonald's had had throughout East Asia.

In this book, five authors look at the impact McDonald's has had in five different East Asian entities: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. Much of the early chapters is given over to looking at the material aspects of McDonald's in East Asia: the marketing aspects, the reconceptualization towards a standard Asian consumer, the effect on the Asian food industry, etc.. All of this makes for very fascinating reading and shows just how marketing has to be changed from country to country (or even region to region). Likewise, it deals with very nuts-and-bolts issues of how McDonald's has impacted the lives of the average Asian consumer - and the impact is bigger than you'd think.

However, later chapters (especially those dealing with Taiwan and Korea and the Afterword) move to more conceptual issues of McDonald's - issues of modernity. Americanization and cultural identity. In an anthropological context (which is what this book tries to maintain), these are all very important, but somehow the later efforts seem to either fall flat or fall back on the line used so often in studying Asia these days, "But things are changing now".

While the overall message of this book is positive, there are the standard overtones of just how much the world has changed in the past half-century. I really recommend this book for the nuts-and-bolts stuff in the first two or three chapters, but the later didacticism tends to fall a little flat. Nonetheless, this book offers useful information to both the business student and the cultural anthropologist. If either East Asia or McDonald's interest you, I recommend giving this book a shot.

Fries taste better in East!.......2000-03-12

I tasted McDonald's french fries in East Asia. That tastes better than in the US. American french fries are overfried.

Good tale but facile understanding of business environment.......1999-05-17

An interesting tale of an importnat American icon. But, this book has little understanding of the local competitors that McDonalds and other foreign multinationals face in East Asia, many of whom are quite formidable. I recommend "New Asian Emperors" by George Haley et al. to understand the complex business environment in East Asia.

Cultural and Heritage Tourism in Asia and the Pacific

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Cultural and Heritage Tourism in Asia and the Pacific
Bruce Prideaux:
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0415366739

Book Description

The Asia Pacific region's enormous diversity of living cultures and preserved heritage sites has significant appeal to many tourists. However tourism has grown so rapidly that many issues associated with the incorporation of cultural and heritage experiences in tourist itineraries (such as authenticity verses commodification, exploitation of national cultures, impacts on local communities, and the management of heritage resources) have not been adequately addressed and must be debated.

This revealing book reviews recent developments in cultural and heritage tourism in the Asia Pacific region and provides a discussion on how communities have faced and overcome significant challenges to develop and market their culture and heritage resources. A range of models and case studies are used to deepen the reader's understanding of heritage and cultural issues, to illustrate many of the more controversial issues, and to examine new evaluative, and planning tools.

This book is a special issue ofthe Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research.

The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class

Average customer rating:

Unqual chapters...
One of the more accessible books on the topic
"Travellers seek authentic Hungarian peasant's dinner"

The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class
Dean MacCannell
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520218922

Book Description

Long regarded as a classic, The Tourist is an examination of the phenomenon of tourism through a social theory lens that encompasses discussions of authenticity, high and low culture, and the construction of social reality. It brings the concerns of social science to an analysis of travel and sightseeing in the postindustrial age, during which the middle class acquired leisure time for international travel. This edition includes a new foreword by Lucy R. Lippard and a new afterword by the author.

Customer Reviews:

Unqual chapters..........2004-06-03

Tourism is an interesting topic for a structural analysis and this is the goal of MacCannell's analysis, citing Levi-Strauss and Roland Barthes right from the beginning. The introduction of the book fascinated me and kept my going. There the author illustrates a variety of interesting thoughts in relation to Marx, sometimes Walter Benjamin and Levi-Strauss. But in comparison with several of the chapters to come (not all), the philosophical level does not always keep up. Some of them content themselves to describe what the reader already knows - with little philosophical output. An example: the third chapter of the book is about tourism in Paris at the time of 1900. A very good topic. But the author limits himself with the interpretation of a Baedeker's Travel Guide, not looking or mentioning other sources in THE city of tourism as Paris was at that time. A combination with literature for example of the same time - where tourists play an important part - would have been much more lucrative. The same with chapter 5, though chapter 6 about a "Semiotics of Tourism" gets back to the level of the introduction. Well... Theses are the reasons for three stars.

One of the more accessible books on the topic.......2003-06-25

What I liked about MacCannell's book was how easy it was to read- now, granted, I was forced to plow through this in a week, so I didn't get to savor it- but I really felt like I understood far more than I usually do- like the book had enough of substance to say that it wasn't necessary to obscure the ideas with jargon.

It seemed like in many ways this was a rebuttal to Daniel Boorstin's "The Image: A Guide to Pseudo Events in America" , which presents a fairly elitist distinction between traveller and tourist. MacCannell expressely mentions Boorstin's ideas and decries them as being counterproductive- that we'd all like to elevate ourselves above the majority, but are mostly deceiving ourselves that this distinction is true.

Also, some very interesting stuff in here about how a sight is established- how it is marked- the interplay of markers and signs. His work on Staged Authenticity is also quite compelling- the idea of Front, Back, and Reality- spaces where everyone can go, restricted spaces that are still modified knowing outsiders will pass through, and spaces that are authentic.

His examples involving Paris are especially interesting. I'd recommend checking out this AND the Boorstin.

"Travellers seek authentic Hungarian peasant's dinner".......2002-02-12

All around the world, especially in those domains inhabited by readers of Lonely Planet publications, a fine (or sometimes not so fine) distinction is drawn between "tourists" and "travellers". Almost always, "tourists" are "them", while "travellers" are "us". Tourists are somebody you can look down on, from the height of your greater awareness, cultural sensitivity, or superior poverty. In the old days, the term "pilgrim" described not only people who went to places like Mecca, Jerusalem or Rome, but also those on the "road of life". It seems to me that all travellers are tourists and vice-versa. Anthropologists too are just tourists with a more professional attitude, intent on telling others what they have found in their in-depth investigations and placing it in an academic framework. If you want to get to the bottom of this whole topic---with all the various ramifications---then you must read MacCannell's book, an essay in the (OK, somewhat arcane) field of the Anthropology of Tourism. It is not a bedtime reading book, but will stimulate plenty of thought.

The author takes the tourist as a model of modern man. He engages in a very effective piece of structural analysis; more effective in my opinion than any ever created by the Old Master, Claude Levi-Strauss. A reader of THE TOURIST will come away having understood everything, not totally baffled by mountains of jargon. The pre-modern world has not disappeared, it has been turned into zillions of tourist attractions. We, the seekers, pilgrims, or, if you like, the tourists, try to get close to the roots of our civilization, to our own origins, by visiting and looking at packaged versions of the past. Where pre-modern societies still exist to some extent, for example, among the hill tribes of Thailand, tourists make great efforts to visit them and, significantly, try their utmost to ensure that their visits are not "packaged" but "real". The tourist wants to penetrate and share the lives of "others", others who are so distinct from ourselves. Tourist satisfaction may be directly correlated to how "authentic" the experience seems to the visitors. That's why having the authentic Hungarian peasant's dinner is important. Unfortunately, you can't really share that dinner if you are travelling with forty other pilgrims in search of authenticity on a large bus. But advertising, as always, can work wonders! Fake authenticity has become the norm.

MacCannell discusses such serious topics as "commodity and symbol", "cultural productions and work groups" and how these relate to work. In subsequent chapters, entitled "Sightseeing and Social Structure", "The Paris Case: Origins of Alienated Leisure", "Staged Authenticity", "A Semiotic of Attraction", "The Ethnomethodology of Sightseers", and "Structure, Genuine and Spurious", the author covers a wide variety of fascinating subjects in a brilliant book which will definitely succeed in making you view tourism in a different way forever afterwards. The pages are crammed with insights, analysis, good examples and interesting observations. This book is the classic work of the Anthropology of Tourism. If you are starting out in the field or are just interested in thinking about tourism in modern life, this is your book. If you are a tourist along the byways of Amazon.com, you might consider making a stop here. You will not find less than an authentic gem.

Wine and Society: The Cultural and Social Context of a Drink
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I expected more of an emphasis on sociology and less on marketing

Wine and Society: The Cultural and Social Context of a Drink
Steve Charters
Manufacturer: Butterworth-Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Motivational | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Spirits | Drinks & Beverages | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:

Wine: The 8,000 Year-Old Story of the Wine Trade

The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd Edition

Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture

Wine Marketing & Sales: Success Strategies for a Saturated Market

Origins and Ancient History of Wine (Food and Nutrition in History and Anthropology)

ASIN: 0750666358

Book Description

Wine is becoming increasingly popular in the Anglophone world and there are many books available which describe how and where it is made. However, none address the fundamental questions of different structures of production and how the consumer relates to the product this book is the first to do just that.

Wine and Society: the cultural and social context of wine production and consumption looks at the relationship between wine production and marketing, focussing in consumer behaviour and cultural attitudes. Divided into four parts, it examines the context of wine production, the wine consumer and the social context of wine, discussing the following themes:

* That the core of wine production and consumption is shaped by historical, geographical and cultural factors.
* Wine production European and new world looking at the different kinds of producer and how the varying background of each shapes their perspective on what they produce
* Terroir and appellations: why demarcation and sense of place became important, how they are used to achieve marketing differentiation, and the 'benefits (or otherwise) to the customer.
* The contemporary wine consumer and lifestyle factors looking at wine clubs, tourism, education, culture and literature
* The politics and economics of wine from supporting rural industries in France to protecting customers from deception and health risks.

Suitable for third year and post-graduate students of hospitality, wine (both in production and marketing), wine tourism, gastronomy and related courses, it encourages students to think critically about the issues raised by using real life case studies and examples from around the world, also including press releases and marketing campaigns.

* Examines the relationship of wine to the cultures which produce and consume it, the meaning of wine consumption and its impact on society and lifestyles.
* Looks behind the marketing of wine, and reveals what hidden messages are contained in wine advertising.
* Uses a wide framework, exploring how these issues have been shaped by the past, and how they exist in different ways around the world, encouraging analysis and reflection.

Customer Reviews:

I expected more of an emphasis on sociology and less on marketing.......2007-01-18

This book serves as a justification for the marketing techneques used in the wine trade. I was disappointed because I expected something more academic. It was well written and I appreciated the historical parts in particular. I would recommend it as a primer for those in wine marketing and for those studying for the MW exams

The Tourist Gaze (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society)

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The Tourist Gaze (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society)
John Urry
Manufacturer: Sage Publications Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Hospitality, Travel & Tourism | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class
Culture on Tour: Ethnographies of Travel
Native Tours: The Anthropology of Travel and Tourism
Touring Cultures: Transformations of Travel and Theory
Visual Culture and Tourism

ASIN: 0761973478

Book Description

Praise for the First Edition:

"There is much to be applauded here...this is an engaging and thought provoking book which should be read by those interested in advertising and the changing nature of contemporary culture." - Contemporary Sociology

"The book is written in a very accessible style that would serve as a good point of entry for anyone interested in leisure, tourism, and cultural change in contemporary societies. The scope of Urry's book is breathtaking, one is left with a feeling of coming to terms with the complex set of social relations that are tourism, both in their production and consumption." - Planning Practice and Research

This is a fully revised edition of the groundbreaking study on tourism, which was originally published in 1990. The original chapters have been empirically updated and many new research findings incorporated and evaluated.

This Second Edition deepens our understanding of how the tourist gaze orders and regulates the relationship with the tourist environment, demarcating the "other" and identifying the "out-of-the-ordinary." It elucidates the relationship between tourism and embodiment and elaborates on the connections between mobility as a mark of modern and postmodern experience and the attraction of tourism as a lifestyle choice.

The result is a book that builds on the proven strengths of the First Edition and revitalizes the argument to address the needs of researchers and students in the new century.

Working-Class Organisations and Popular Tourism, 1840-1970 (Studies in Popular Culture)

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Working-Class Organisations and Popular Tourism, 1840-1970 (Studies in Popular Culture)
Susan Barton
Manufacturer: Manchester University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Labor & Industrial Relations | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0719065909
Release Date: 2005-04-28

Book Description

Today, many people take the idea of holidays for granted and regard the provision of paid time off as a right. This book argues that popular tourism has its roots in collective organisation and charts the development of the working class holiday over two centuries. This study recounts how short, unpaid and often unauthorised periods of leave from work became organised and legitimised through legislation, culminating with the Holidays with Pay Act of 1938. Moreover, this study finds that it was through collective activity by workers--through savings clubs, friendly societies and union activity--that the working class were originally able to take holidays, and it was as a result of collective bargaining and campaigning that paid holidays were eventually secured for all.

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