Abstract
This paper is about volunteer tourism in orphanages, more specifically in Nepal. While well-known for its mountainous landscapes, this country is one of the most popular destinations for this activity where business and humanitarianism contract a paradoxical union that is illustrative of the neo-liberal time. The commoditization of orphanages has increasingly raised serious ethical concerns, especially about the use of children as a tourist attraction. We seek to contribute to a critical approach and join the debate on orphanage tourism. We shed the light on an implicit and fundamental manifestation of domination in orphanage tourism: the business of poverty. Our critical perspective, however, also targets the assumption that orphanage business and some use of children as attractions are necessarily negative and always represents a form of modern slavery. Through the case study of an orphanage in Nepal and the triangulation of various data, we demonstrate that ambivalent situations exist
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Modern Day Slavery and Orphanage Tourism |
Editors | Joseph M. Cheer, Leigh Mathews, Kathryn E. van Doore, Karen Flanagan |
Number of pages | 13 |
Place of Publication | Wallingford |
Publisher | CABI Publishing |
Publication date | 2020 |
Pages | 110-122 |
Chapter | 8 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781789240795 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781789240801, 9781789240818 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |