Place and power in tourism development: tracing the complex articulations of community and locality

This paper outlines the case for the analysis of tourism, power and place in the development process from a critical sociological perspective. It draws on recent trends in the sociology of development to develop existing theoretical models in a manner which transcends the more rigid dualisms between structure and agency on the one hand, and, the concerns of power and identity on the other. As in recent works from noted scholars such as Picard and Wood (1997), the relationship between tourism and processes of development and social transformation are more nuanced and varied than previous ‘theoretical’ models in tourism have recognised. Hence, this paper examines the issue by considering four major thematic areas of relevance to the study of tourism and its diverse relationships to processes of social change: the relations of community, consumption, production and place.