Entanglements in multispecies voluntourism: conservation and Utila's affect economy

Abstract

Through a case study of conservation voluntourism this article brings together critical political ecology, multispecies ethnography, and studies of humanitarian tourism to advance a political ecology of multispecies conservation voluntourism. The article presents multispecies conservation voluntourism as a field that produces and is produced by an “affect economy”, or an economy based on the exchange or trade in the relational. Since the mid-1990s, life on Utila, Honduras, a popular discount backpacker scuba destination located along the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, has been deeply transformed by the growth of dive tourism, the ecological destruction it has produced, and now the conservation voluntourism industry emerging in its wake. Seventy percent of Utila is comprised of mangroves and associated wetlands, home to several endangered and endemic species. Using examples of whale shark tourism, lionfish hunts, and iguana tracking, this article shows how conservation organizations operate as affect generators, enabling the privilege of engaging in multispecies encounters. Engaging in multispecies conservation voluntourism produces value in the form of cultural capital which is then exchanged for material outcomes by volunteers in the global economy; at the same time, this form of voluntourism obscures local relationships to nature and alters multispecies assemblages from past configurations.     

The 2012 Olympic Ambassadors and sustainable tourism legacy

This paper examines the capacity of the London (2012) Olympic Ambassador volunteer programmes to create a sustainable tourism legacy. It contributes to the literature on event legacies, particularly the role of volunteers promoting tourism in their home destination. Using an exploratory inductive approach, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted, in 2012 and 2013, with managers of all 11 Ambassador volunteer programmes associated with London and the 10 other regional venues that hosted London Olympic and Paralympic Games events. These show that volunteer Ambassadors enhanced tourist experiences during the Games through the Ambassadors’ pride in their home city, enthusiasm and local knowledge. However, although the Ambassador programmes had aspirations to create a sustainable legacy, in the form of a pool of experienced volunteers to support future events and further tourist visits, this was severely constrained by cuts in local government budgets. The Government Olympic Executive provided a coordinating role leading up to the Games, but neither they nor the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games provided practical assistance for legacy development. This was a missed opportunity to channel the enthusiasm of mega-event volunteers into further volunteering to promote tourism.     

Working towards sincere encounters in volunteer tourism: an ethnographic examination of key management issues at a Nordic eco-village

This article explores host–guest dynamics at Sólheimar eco-village, Iceland to contribute to the conceptualization of transformative learning in volunteer tourism. At the eco-village, the host and volunteers come together to share similar goals and meaningful experiences. This interaction gets complicated, however: the eco-village exists within the global capitalist system and must operate using market norms. The idealist and educational expectations of the volunteers often clash with the practical short-term goals of the community: there are also cultural and experiential differences between the parties. This clash is used to discuss the importance of sincerity in volunteer tourism at the eco-village. Data were collected through fieldwork, primarily including participant observations and interviews, to help interpret the patterns of behaviors and perceptions of both parties in relation to the aim. Ultimately, the experience that binds host and guests cannot solely be about learning to do things alternatively and sustainably; it requires sincerity, using Taylor's 2001 sincerity concept, to tackle the difficulties in working alternatively and sustainably to attain this experience. It is argued that transformative learning during the volunteer experience in alternative spaces should be conceptualized to include the promotion of sincere encounters, and adjusted to concern both the host and its guests.     

Localism and the Big Society: the asset transfer of leisure centres and libraries – fighting closures or empowering communities?

This paper critically examines the ‘asset transfer’ of leisure services from the public to the voluntary sector. Asset transfer might be theorised as ‘austerity localism’, in which volunteers are obliged to fill the gaps left by retreating public provision, or as ‘progressive localism’, which represents new opportunities through the localism and Big Society agendas to develop more locally responsive, cooperative and mutualist visions. In this way, asset transfer might overcome the limitations of the United Kingdom policies in which ‘Big Government’ is replaced by civic society. Drawing on qualitative interviews with key personnel (volunteers, managers and local authority officers) at 12 leisure facilities, a grounded assessment of the nuanced balance between ‘austerity localism’ and ‘progressive localism’ is provided, including three observations. First, the main impetus for transfer was cuts in local authority budgets which stimulated the emergence of local groups of volunteers. Secondly, the transfers themselves required interaction between local government and the volunteer groups; however, the nature of the relationship and support given varied and support was limited by austerity measures. Thirdly, volunteers do not automatically fill a gap left by the state: without support transfer viability relies on the financial and social capital among volunteer groups, and this is unevenly distributed. These findings suggest that the capacity for a ‘progressive localism’ to emerge through asset transfer is limited. However, where transfer has occurred, there are some progressive benefits of volunteer empowerment and a more flexible service.     

Motivations of volunteer overseas and what have we learned – The experience of Taiwanese students

The study explores motives for Taiwanese students to volunteer overseas and what they have learned from the trip. Their motivations are classified into pull and push factors. Pull factors include expecting challenge, validating personal perceptions of the place, and getting to know local residents and experiencing the life in a foreign culture. Push factors identified as underlying themes include escaping from daily life to reorganize and relax, look for new ways of life and self exploration, a desire to give back, to make friends who share a common interest, a less expensive way of traveling, encouragement by others, and parental compulsion. The students gain several benefits from this trip, including a better attitude to learning, better communication skills, better stress management, an appreciation of what they have, being more active, becoming more generous and developing empathetic skills, be willing to hear and respect different voices, having trust in co-workers and be willing to admit deficiencies, appreciating a slower life pace, having an open mind, and learning to control material desire.     

上市公司自愿性信息披露对提升公司价值的影响——基于我国证券市场的进一步验证

对于上市公司自愿性信息披露能否影响公司的价值,论文将采用托宾Q（Tobin＇sQ）作为衡量公司价值的指标,揭示中国上市公司自愿性战略信息披露、自愿性非财务信息披露、自愿性财务信息披露与公司价值的关系,本文将构建模型,并采集2005年度的数据进行进一步实证分析,结果表明：自愿性非财务信息披露水平对提升公司价值有显著的作用,竞争程度高的上市公司的自愿性信息披露对公司价值的影响更为显著。     

Prosocial behaviour in volunteer tourism

This paper applies Self-Categorisation Theory to examine issues of role ambiguity and the balance between prosocial behaviour and personal benefits in volunteer tourism. Using interviews with returned volunteer tourists, the cognitive processing of their experiences was analysed; particularly the processes of individuation uncovered through “I” statements, and depersonalisation, through impersonal “you” statements. Results revealed that “I” statements described the tourist experience and personal benefits of volunteering, whilst impersonal “you” statements described the volunteering experience. Furthermore, as the theory predicts, the depersonalisation process (impersonal “you” statements) co-occurred with prosocial behaviour (co-operation, altruism, empathy, and shared norms). The findings suggest new and promising communication-based methods to better understand tourists’ self-assigned roles and prosocial behaviours.     

Identifying College Students Likely to Participate in a Travel Abroad Volunteer Project

Foreign travel provides excellent opportunities for college students to broaden their global mindset. While empirical research focusing on variables that influence student participation in study abroad programs are available, there is a paucity of research that focuses on travel abroad programs relating to participating in volunteer projects. Using a sample of 193 undergraduate business students, this study attempts to develop profiles of students that are “not likely,” “maybe,” and “most likely” to participate in a travel abroad volunteer project. Those who were “mostly likely” to participate had traveled abroad before, demonstrated high levels of self-congruity and diversity seeking, and stated financial costs to be less of a constraint in participating in such a project. Discussion of findings and direction for future research is also provided.     

Why volunteer teaching tourism? Empirical evidence from China

Volunteer teaching tourism, as a particular type of volunteer tourism supported by China government, has become an effective supplement to and acceleration for education development in the regions of China where education resources are limited. The motivation and experience of volunteers have a direct impact on the healthy and sustainable development of volunteer teaching tourism. This study therefore aims to identify motivation of Chinese youth participating in volunteer teaching tourism in China, and the relationships between motivation, satisfaction, and behavioral intention are further examined. Empirical results show that in addition to the six motives advanced by Clary et al. (1998), two unique motives are further identified: love of children and desire to travel. Among these eight motives, three have significant effects on post-trip satisfaction, and post-trip satisfaction further influences behavioral intention. The implications benefit both organizational and governmental bodies who seek to develop both national and international volunteer teaching tourism.     

Cross-cultural event volunteering: Challenge and intelligence

Globalization and increasing number of international events makes cross-cultural volunteering a popular phenomenon when combined with the greater mobility of people. Focusing on a volunteer's experience at four events in New Zealand and China, this paper aims to explore the challenges and intelligence that encountered at such events. Earley and Ang's cultural intelligence framework is used to explain what contributes to successful cross-cultural volunteering experiences. Drawing upon the autoethnographical data and a critical discourse analysis of volunteer handbooks and emails, the results identified a four-dimensional schema to explain the auto-ethnographical perceptions of what is termed a 'dual' volunteer experience. The analysis suggests that cultural intelligence leads to an enhanced experience, while a lack of intercultural effectiveness leads to challenges. Recommendations for cross-cultural volunteering practice are also presented.