Revolutionary Tourism Tuesday 10 April 07

This is the abstract of a talk I will present - with severe jetlag as I arrive from Hong Kong at 5am on the same day - at the annual conference of the Association of Social Anthropologists at the London Metropolitan University (Holloway Rd).

Its in the "Enchantment" Plenary

(Plen1) Location Henry Thomas Room

Date and Time 10th April, 2007 at 14:30

"Revolutionary Tourism:

The double visage of South Asia abroad is fantasy and sensation. On the one hand, the Hindi film glitz or traditional exotica of temples, rich fabrics, and pantomime handlebar moustaches. On the other, disaster, war, cotton-clad politicians discussing nuclear weaponry, Maoists, and pantomime handlebar moustaches. This doubled representation follows an ideological investment that eases and erases imperial guilt. From afar, it is clear (the wish is) that the vibrancy (temples, fabric) of South Asia has not been destroyed despite the (rarely or reluctantly acknowledged) impact of 300 plus years of colonialism and more recent structural adjustment programmes. Reassured by tourist brochures and travel reports that most of the temples and holy sites remain, the disasters are attributed to contemporary dysfunctions: poverty, corruption, mismanagement and revolutionaries. Such reasoning, sometimes explicit, affirms that South Asia's problems are South Asian, and that the departure of paternal colonial rule was perhaps premature: a self-serving ideological psychic defence, to be resolved by more 'development' aid. This paper addresses the ways a new revolutionary tourism trades on the same (the same?) double aspect - the exotic charge of 'alternative travel' means meeting with the Maoist adds a frisson of excitement to what was by now a standard brochure scenario. The Maoists themselves take part in this representation game - Everest turns Red. I have a Communist Party of Nepal souvenir visa stamp to prove it (1000 rupees)."

Mostly I will probably talk about terror and Kolkata though, having just spent time there full of stories, and some dismay at Comms killing Comms..