Towards posthuman geographies of volunteer tourism in a time of polycrisis

Abstract

Volunteer tourism has long represented a fruitful realm for the application of geographic perspectives and has greatly benefitted from them. Yet, despite the progress made through multi-, inter-, and intra-disciplinary approaches to the field, its development has notably slowed down and reached a stagnation phase. This is because much scholarship on volunteer tourism has focused on rather dichotomic conceptualisations of the field, and because of a lack of engagement with the intertwined challenges of our times, whose combined effects characterise the current polycrisis. Hence, in this paper we provide an overview of how recent geographic approaches to volunteer tourism have shown ways towards less rigid conceptualisations that better capture its fluid processes and dynamics. Subsequently, we discuss how geographic perspectives can help us make sense of the challenges faced by volunteer tourism in the current polycrisis, including those related to socio-ecological justice, capitalist ideologies, technological advancements, and intersectional inequalities. After looking at the possibilities offered by the application of digital geographies and geohumanities to our understanding of current and future volunteer tourism scenarios, we advocate for a posthuman theoretical shift. In particular, we suggest how this can help us rethink roles, practices, meanings and justifications of volunteer tourism in a rapidly changing world. In raising questions about the future development of volunteer tourism, the paper aims at sparking debates and stimulating collaborative efforts to drive meaningful advancements of the field.