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Who is right? The debate on Poverty Tourism
Critics of poverty tourism maintain that the tours are voyeuristic and exploitative, and serve no real purpose except to profit from the slums’ destitute conditions and reinforce Western beliefs of cultural superiority and privilege.
Photo from Poverty Tourism
Google the term “slum tourism” and you find pages upon pages of articles, blog entries, and even narrated photographic slideshows on the topic, with titles such as:
- “Slum Tours: Real or Real Tacky?” (National Geographic Traveler)
- “Slum Visits: Tourism or Voyeurism?” (New York Times)
- “Slum Tours: A Day Trip Too Far?” (Guardian)
- “Slum Tourism: Good or Bad?” (Foreign Policy)
Each piece is structured in basically the same way: Describe the author’s trip to a slum. Mention other recent articles about poverty tourism. Throw in a reference to “Slumdog Millionaire” for good measure. Then ask the question,
“Who is right?”
In this blog, I hope to move past this basic question to which there is no simple answer, and explore the ways in which poverty tourism affects and is affected by the communities in which it flourishes. However, I believe it is necessary to include an explanation of the underlying controversy that has given rise to the aforementioned articles, blogs, and the like.
Continue reading this article @ Poverty Tourism
Further information:
Hannah Rubenstein
Spent fourteen months living and volunteering in Esteli, Nicaragua. She is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Journalism, and lives in Washington, D.C.. Hannah recently started her blog Poverty Tourism.
