Tourism, consent, and resistance: A Gramscian lens

Abstract

This study examines how hegemonic ideologies shape women's participation in tourism in a theocracy. Applying Gramsci's theory of hegemony and a critical poststructural feminist lens, it analyses how Iran's politico-religious structures influence women's roles, employment, and mobility in tourism. Qualitative findings reveal strategies of compliance, negotiation, and resistance expressed through entrepreneurship, networking, and workplace practices. Concepts of ‘war of position’ and ‘passive revolution’ explain how women create space for agency without direct confrontation, reshaping visibility and legitimacy incrementally. The study advances tourism scholarship by situating women's agency within hegemonic structures of theocratic governance and extending Gramscian theory to show how gendered consent and resistance operate in tourism, while calling for gender-transformative policies that address inequality and support women's situated agency.