The Mantra of ‘Community Participation’ in Context

Jim Butcher

The following probe introduces a critique of the contemporary emphasis on community participation in literature on tourism planning, and tourism generally. At the outset it is important to note that this is not a critique of the extent to which community participation operates well in practice, or is genuine and not tokenistic (of which there are plenty). Rather, it argues that community participation – as currently constituted through academic literature and practitioner opinion – does not warrant its generally-held status as part of a progressive shift in development politics, specifically with regard to tourism.

Keywords: research probe; community participation;.