Abstract
This paper explores the colonial systems of power that enable and perpetuate the commodification of colonized bodies at the intersection of sport tourism and sex tourism. Mega sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup, Olympic Games and Super Bowl in the United States, are often constructed as corresponding sites of bodily tourism (Urry and Larson, 2011; Stoddart and Graham, 2016), with a shared motivation among some tourists to purchase and consume both commercialized sport and sex. As such, the paper situates this intersection within the colonial matrix of power and the structural hierarchies maintained through the colonial framing of power, race, gender, and sexuality (Fanon, 2008; Mignolo, 2007; Quijano, 2000). I argue that sport and sex tourism sustain a larger colonial project fueled by the predatory, neoliberal relationship between the First and Third World and the continued dehumanization of colonized peoples. In this sense, tourism is defined as roving colonialism (Sykes). Using the colonial matrix of power as a theoretical framework, then, we evaluate the libidinal economy (Bennett, 2010; Chapman, 2020; Sexton, 2010, 2017; Wilderson, 2010) of sport and sex tourism and propose a conceptual understanding of physical and bodily labor and exploitation at this unique intersection. By using this conceptual framework, this paper calls for further empirical study that explicitly evaluates the impact of corresponding systems of sport tourism and sex tourism simultaneously at play within national and international sporting events.
Presenters
Rachel RobersonAssistant Professor, School of Language, Culture, and Society, Oregon State University, Oregon, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Critical Issues in Tourism and Leisure Studies
KEYWORDS
Political Economy; Sport Tourism; Labor
