Upcoming event at GW

Tourism, Heritage, and Sacred Space in China

Robert J. Shepherd, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Honors and International Affairs

When: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 from 12:30 – 1:45 PM
Where: Lindner Family Commons, Room 602
1957 E Street, NW
The Elliott School of International Affairs
George Washington University

Please RSVP here

Although the Chinese government has become one of the most prominent supporters of the UNESCO-led World Heritage movement, the economic, political and bureaucratic reasons for this are often at cross-purposes with the preservationist goals of UNESCO. This presentation will examine the relationship between heritage projects, tourism, and economic development in China by focusing on the Buddhist pilgrimage destination of Mount Wutai, Shanxi Province, which was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2009. Professor Shepherd’s work on tourism, cultural heritage issues, and the side effects of market changes in China has appeared in Southeast Asia Research, Consumption, Markets, and Culture, the International Journal of Cultural Studies, and the Journal of Contemporary Asia, among other publications. His book, When Culture Goes to the Market: The Politics of Space, Place and Identity in an Urban Marketplace (Peter Lang) was published in 2008.

Sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies

Cruise ships to heaven: Mauritius expands tourist sector

Guest post by Sean Carey

Mark Twain famously quoted a local person in his 1897 travelogue, Following the Equator: “You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then heaven; and that heaven was copied after Mauritius.”

Anyone lucky enough to fly to the Indian Ocean island will understand something of why this sentiment was recorded. The view as the plane starts its descent to the airport is stunning — the central mountain range looks as if it has been cut from some dark grey and green material with some very sharp scissors. Towns and small villages dot the landscape. As the plane comes into land at Plaisance on the south-east coast you see a patchwork of green sugar fields, which contrasts with the azure water gently rippling within the coral lagoon.

Little wonder, then, that with these physical attributes the Mauritius tourist sector, which started in a small way in the early 1970s, has expanded greatly. Even with the current global economic downturn around 915,000 visitors are expected in 2010. In fact, the country’s tourist sector often referred to as one the “pillars of the economy” — the others are sugar, textiles, ICT, offshore banking and luxury property — contributed 7.4 percent of the $10 billion economy in 2009. Significantly, it remains the island’s main source of foreign exchange.

Screensaver worthy: a view of Mauritius. Credit: Tim Parkinson, creative commons licensed on Flickr.

It is nearly 40 years since Indo-Trinidadian writer, V.S. Naipaul, referred to Mauritius as an “overcrowded barracoon” and a “half-made society,” and predicted economic collapse and social mayhem. He was wrong and has since apologized. (In fact, a much better guide to the history and social make up of Mauritius is provided by Norwegian anthropologist, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, in Common Denominators, a brilliant analysis of the island’s polyethnicity, identity politics and nationalism.)

But there can be little doubt that contemporary travel writers love to visit Mauritius, because it produces such good copy. In the last few years I have yet to see a bad review in the mainstream press. Mauritius is often referred to as a “paradise island” which is easy enough to conclude if you are paid to stay in some of the big five-star hotels that punctuate the coastline — Trou aux Biches, Le Touessrok and the Royal Palm are good examples — and are waited on hand and foot. For example, a recent article by Erin O’Dwyer in the Sydney Morning Herald is fairly typical of its kind:

“If what people want most in a holiday is good food, great beaches and a glimpse of local culture, then Mauritius has it all… Golf and snorkelling are island mainstays, though most resorts have a hectic schedule of activities — from archery and bocce to yoga and tai chi — and the spa is never far away, either.”

Continue reading “Cruise ships to heaven: Mauritius expands tourist sector” →

Tramp down Babylon

by Barbara Miller

Babylon has had its ups and downs over many hundreds of years. It is currently in a down phase thanks to the US war and occupation.

Located on the Euphrates River, about an hour’s drive south of Baghdad, it was the world’s largest city at its height with a population of over 200,000. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Sacked and rebuilt and sacked again over the centuries, Babylon is now a sad monument to the power of global politics.

The most significant remains of Babylon’s glory are not in Babylon. The Pergamon Museum in Berlin, for example, houses the famous Ishtar Gate, thanks to the European colonialist hunger for Near Eastern treasures during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and, specifically, the excavations (and extractions) carried out by archaeologist Robert Koldewey.

What is left of Babylon itself? Not much above ground: a tell (mound) and some buildings that were “reconstructed” under Saddam Hussein. After Saddam, came the US occupation.

In 2003, the US army established “Camp Alpha” on top of the remains of the ancient city. According to a CNN.com/world report, a US military spokesperson said that occupation of the site was meant to protect it from looting. A recent United Nations report documents, to the contrary, that the US occupation caused major damage to Babylon.

The United States is supposed to pay $800,000 to repair damages from its occupation of the site. $800,000? Shameful.

No one could argue that Babylon, throughout its history, was a humanitarian state. Social inequality was extreme with slaves building the impressive monuments of early times, leaders were ruthless, heads rolled. On a brighter note, however, the first king of the Babylonian empire, Hammurabi (c 1728-1686 BCE) compiled one of the first written legal compendiums: the Code of Hammurabi.

While images of Hammurabi are found throughout the Western world as a tribute to his contribution, his home is in ruins.

One question: Why did the US military treat Babylon, and many other important sites in Iraq, so disrespectfully? Possible answer: the US military presence in Iraq under Bush had no respect for or interest in any aspect of cultural heritage in the Middle East that is not Christian. Nonetheless, according to a recent New York Times article, the ancient city of Ur was protected from the ravages of war and looting because an airbase was built around it.

A second question: Why is Babylon, along with so many important sites in present-day Iraq, not listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site which would provide some protection? UNESCO has recognized only three World Heritage Sites in Iraq putting it in league with Armenia, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Turkmenistan, and Uganda. Given its importance in human history, Iraq should be peppered with World Heritage Sites, more along the lines of Italy and Spain, both with more than 40 sites.

Babylon deserves much more than a paltry $800,000 from the US. And I don’t mean just the US government. US contractors and other business interests have reaped outrageously huge profits, in the billions of dollars, from the war and the occupation. These modern-day carpetbaggers should pay back. No one would trust the likes of Halliburton to reconstruct Babylon given their narrow monetary interests and limited skills (laying down asphalt is a big one). But their money would be most welcome to support Iraqi-managed reconstruction of sites damaged by the US presence.

And the Cradle of Civilization deserves far more from UNESCO than three designated sites.

Photo, “Ishtar Gate”, from Flickr via Creative Commons.

The purrfect solution?

by Barbara Miller

Cheetahs are major draws for the international tourist industry in southern African countries. In Namibia, home of one-fourth of the world’s population of cheetahs, tourists pay big money for the chance of a close-up look at these large cats. The cheetah population has been declining in recent decades, however, mainly due to being killed by farmers. The tourist industry therefore cannot guarantee a sighting to high-paying visitors.

In an article in the Financial Times, journalist Colin Barraclough describes his stay at the Okonjima Lodge in Namibia where a double room costs between US $250-1000 per night. The AfriCat Foundation, based at the Lodge, is a nonprofit organization established to help protect Namibia’s big cats. Barraclough saw pens where injured and orphaned cats are housed in preparation for their return to the wild. While this effort may warm the heart of animal lovers, it’s not done out of altruistic feelings about the animals but to protect profits from high-end tourism.

A major challenge in cheetah population management is tracking the whereabouts of wild cheetahs. Conservationists need data on their numbers and location so they can step in to help if a problem arises that would affect cheetah health and wellbeing. But cheetahs don’t like to be monitored. Radio collaring, for example, causes them stress. The age-old way of reading their tracks appears promising as a non-invasive method. The article proclaims: “San Bushmen can consistently identify individual cheetahs from their footprints.”

So, the tourist industry and conservationists want to track cheetahs and San Bushmen know how to track them. Does this sound like a wonderful opportunity for the San to benefit from tourism by using their traditional tracking knowledge?

No such luck. The article further states that AfriCat is partnering with WildTrack, an animal monitoring group that aims to use computers to produce an algorithim to track free-roaming cheetahs based on data about their footprints. Computers will digest San knowledge and generate output for scientifically technicians to use.

Here is a shining example of how indigenous knowledge has potential to contribute to conservation and cultural survival by providing employment to the San people who have been harshly displaced from their homelands. Instead, once again, a takeover — only this time of knowledge instead of land. The takeover is glaringly obvious in the article’s proclamation: “Bushmen put scientists on the right track” followed by the words of a European cheetah researcher at a wildlife sanctuary in Namibia: “We hope computers can do the same.”

Photo, “Cheetah”, from Flickr via Creative Commons.

Tourism, human rights, and who is in control

By Barbara Miller

Lead articles in the travel sections of the Sunday August 24 issues of The Washington Post and The New York Times raise some interesting questions about tourism in relation to indigenous peoples.

Both articles offer food for thought for anthropologists who work with indigenous peoples to protect, preserve, and “manage” their cultural heritage and for cultural tourists who want to avoid harming indigenous peoples and fragile environments. The articles also provide a useful source for classroom discussions around issues of heritage, rights, and responsibility.

The Washington Post article is about possible human rights abuses of Padaung women in northern Thailand. Their necks are elongated by wearing a stack of brass coils. They have long been an attraction to outsiders — photographers, journalists, tourists, and other voyeurs. Human rights activists and some eco-tourist company owners have expressed concern that unscrupulous businessmen are keeping Padaung women in “human zoos” across a wide area of northern Thailand.

The author of the article visited one village in which the women told him they are paid to live there and wear traditional clothing including their brass rings. It’s a village created for and sustained by tourists. The author asks: “So it is unethical to visit the long-necked women?” (p F4). The author notes that the women he talked with said that their life in the fake village where they earn money is preferable to poverty.

The New York Times article on the Navajo highlights the value, to indigenous people, of controlling tourism including the narrative conveyed to the tourists in terms of the complicated concept of “authenticity” and the profits generated from tourism. The contrasts with the situation of the Padaung women are clear. While the Navajo in this article are also putting parts of their culture on display for outsiders, they are in control of what to make publicly available and how, including an emphasis on respect for heritage and environmental concerns which responds to a new generation of tourists.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Padaung could be liberated from the “businessmen” and become in charge of their heritage and its consumption by outsiders?

Image: “Padaung Village,” licensed under Creative Commons from Flickr.