First Call for Papers

2nd. International Critical Tourism Studies Conference, 20 June - 23 June 2007, Split, Croatia

The Critical Turn in Tourism Studies: Promoting an Academy of Hope?

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:
Soile Veijola, University of Lapland, Finland
John Tribe, University of Surrey, UK
Keith Hollinshead, University of Luton, UK

Organised by the Socio-Spatial Analysis Group (Wageningen University, the Netherlands), the Welsh Centre for Tourism Research (University of Wales Institute, Cardiff) and the Institute for Tourism, Zagreb, this conference will be held in the Grand Hotel Lav (Le Meridien) in the beautiful and historic coastal city of SPLIT. It follows the successful First International Critical Tourism Studies (CTS) Conference, held in Dubrovnik in 2005. CTS 2005 was organised to specifically foreground the critical school of thought developing in tourism studies through a focus on issues of embodiment and critical and interpretative modes of tourism inquiry. Over 60 papers were presented by researchers from 21 countries who offered critical explorations of the interplay between tourism, identities, genders, races, sexualities and embodiment.

Building on the momentum generated by CTS 2005 and the enthusiasm amongst delegates for further biennial events, Split 2007 will continue these attempts to obtain richer understanding of tourism phenomenon in the broader context of material, discursive and social practices. To echo bell hooks’ calls for academics to embrace honest and supportive communication in their efforts to produce social change, this event will provide an inclusive environment for new and alternative voices in the tourism academy. Specifically, it will address the following:

Conference Aims:
*	To promote the potential of tourism theory and practice as a progressive force for engagement in and analysis of the global political economy.
*	To de-centre and decolonise tourism studies by providing a forum for alternative voices, texts and approaches.
*	To foreground the emotional dynamics of research relations and to explore the personal, the political and the situated nature of research journeys.

*	To promote and legitimise spaces for interpretative and critical modes of tourism inquiry, with particular emphasis on multidisciplinary research.
*	To provide a forum for research collaboration and the mentoring of emerging tourism researchers.

Conference Themes:
Whilst we would particularly encourage papers which challenge and deconstruct the tourism academy, its production of academic knowledge and the dominant discourses which shape its methodological choices, we would welcome papers on all of the following themes:
*	Embodiment, performance and identities;
*	Gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, class and disability;
*	Tourism, leisure, social justice and social inequality;
*	Mobilities and globalisation;
*	Empowerment, community and entrepreneurship;
*	 ‘Worldmaking’ and the transformation of places and cultures;
*	Experiencing, constructing and consuming tourism spaces and places;
*	Materiality, lifestyle & cultural practices;
*	Representation, language and culture;
*	Postcolonial readings of tourism theory and practice;
*	Positionality, emotional dynamics of research, cultural politics of publishing and academic renewal.

 All abstracts should be written in English and must be not more than 300 words in length. All submissions will be subject to a double-blind review and published in the refereed conference proceedings. Following the conference, the authors of selected papers will be invited to submit to for special issues of Tourism and Cultural Change; Tourism Geographies and Mobilities journals. Abstracts should be e-mailed to Dr Irena Ateljevic 
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  or Professor Nigel Morgan 
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  and must include, title, author(s), affiliations, and a summary of the research aims, approach and key arguments/ findings. 

Key dates for submission 
Abstracts: Friday 31th October 2006 
Full papers (max 5,000 words) and working papers (max 2,000 words) for conference proceedings: April. 1st,  2007.
Conference fee, accommodation range and web site details will be released shortly. 

Conference convenors: 
Dr Irena Ateljevic (
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 );  Professor Nigel Morgan (
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 ), Dr Annette Pritchard (
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 ) & Dr Candice Harris  (
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 ).