Growing on the go? Moral development and tourism

摘要: Should researchers in tourism and leisure studies care about the growth developmentof human beings as moral agents? Einstein famously remarked ‘It has becomeappallingly obvious that our technology exceeded humanity’. Surely, we facemany problems – war, for instance, or extreme poverty which failure to findsolutions is less a matter of shortcomings technological know-how more matterof insufficiencies understanding will. Humankind ‘the animal’(Wright 1994), but species, have given little attention recent centuries tounderstanding developing capacity tied what Habermas (1987) callsour communicative emancipatory needs comparison with energy haveexpended toward meeting instrumental needs, through knowledge development inpursuit security, longevity, material wealth creation consumption-based pleasure.We eradicated smallpox global population numbered over four billion, wehave warmed planet than degree paltry 100 years, eveninvented real-life version Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak (Holly 2014). Thesesorts grandiose, if sometimes dubious, feats are result immense investmentin scientific understandings world. Comparatively, havedeveloped do things which, at facevalue, would arguably seem challenging say, ending deaths from starvation(Singer 2009), intervening effectively geopolitical conflicts before they full-scale genocides (Downing Husband 2005), simply not shrinking awkwardnesswhen needing interact terminally ill colleague (Stone Sharpley 2008).Fromthestart,leisurestudieshasbeenbroadlyconcernedwithhumandevelopmentandflourishing. It also been attuned leisure’s social value way individualflourishing can help advance greater good highlighted traditional sociallypositive connotation recreation. In contrast, thirst need (or desire)fulfilment tended historically drive production studies, whichhas largely discursively constructed lens neoliberal marketization an‘industry’ (Tribe 2008; Higgins-Desbiolles 2006), aimed produce return-on-investmentfor capital, pleasure tourists ‘development’ communities (where developmentgenerally seems refer an increase standard living). But aspace rich encounter practice different individuals withdifferent biographies cultures life-spaces viscerally collide. Organiza-tions ofnolessmagnitudethantheUnited Nations recognizedtravel’scapacity inthisregard (Higgins-Desbiolles 2006). More one billion us now on move