Böcker av Dean MacCannell

Brings social scientific understandings to bear on tourism in the postindustrial age, during which the middle class has acquired leisure time for international travel. This title examines notions of authenticity, high and low culture, and the construction of social reality around tourism.

The childhood and youth memoir by world-famous social scientist Dean MacCannell, whose classic 1976 book The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class launched the field of modern tourism studies. In this personal turn, he exposes some of the seamier aspects of "The Greatest Generation" and the depth of the fissures in American society that are often miscast as recent. Here too are the radically different influences in his upbringing and early education that led him to his distinctive approach to modern social relations. Enthusiasts of classic European sports car racing and mountaineering will also find much to interest them in this gripping tale of an American boyhood that is unique but also archetypal.

Is travel inherently beneficial to human character? Does it automatically educate and enlighten while also promoting tolerance, peace, and understanding? In this challenging book, Dean MacCannell identifies and overcomes common obstacles to ethical sightseeing. Through his unique combination of personal observation and in-depth scholarship, MacCannell ventures into specific tourist destinations and attractions: "e;picturesque"e; rural and natural landscapes, "e;hip"e; urban scenes, historic locations of tragic events, Disney theme parks, beaches, and travel poster ideals. He shows how strategies intended to attract tourists carry unintended consequences when they migrate to other domains of life and reappear as "e;staged authenticity."e; Demonstrating each act of sightseeing as an ethical test, the book shows how tourists can realize the productive potential of their travel desires, penetrate the collective unconscious, and gain character, insight, and connection to the world.

Empty Meeting Grounds examines some of the new cultural forms and community arrangements that accompany the development of global tourism.