Conceptualising the Contribution of Community-Based Tourism to Social Justice and Self-Determination.

Abstract

The aim of this article was to unearth the value that Community-Based Tourism brings to the social justice discourse. The article argues that social justice resonates with notions of self-sufficiency and self-determination which are constitutive of a corpus of societal ideals to which they all belong. This study is based on secondary data and was compiled from sources in existing literature and online sources. The article argues that for CBT to be authentic, local control is a sine qua non. It can help foster cultural pride and guest/host relationships. Economic matters and self-determination are important within a social justice context. This article argues that while self-determination must be rooted in the historical cultural context of the area, it should not be exclusively based on economic reasons - but historical and cultural reasons also require consideration. While self-determination, social justice, self-sufficiency and so on, can all be realized individually, ideally they should be eventuating simultaneously for the good of the community at both the local and global levels. A schema proposing various issues that link CBT to social justice and related matters has been presented as an initial attempt to show how they can be intertwined for the realisation of social justice to prevail. As such, the key contribution to knowledge of this article is a CBT/social justice framework which shows a constellation and imbrication of important factors for the cultivation and furtherance of social justice.

Keywords

• tourism
• community-based tourism
• social justice
• independence
• participation