Paper long abstract:

This paper argues that a potential source of inspiration for the ethnographic study of tourists is the anthropological community, on the philosophical basis, as Max Weber tells us, that we always already look inwards before outwards, bound as we are to our own ideas and interests. Given that we have the resources at our fingertips, I contend we must initially review that Holy Grail of taught ethnographic fieldwork, that of Malinowski, to identify the degree to which some standard(ised) ethnographic practice exists outside of that which is included in the formal published article and monograph. Following this, and drawing on more recent ideas and examples of the use of habitus, alongside those of mobile and multi-sited ethnography, and using both empirical studies of the 'backpacking community' and my own experiences of it, I seek to outline a series of strategies that are at once similar to and divergent from the aforementioned standard, both visible and hidden. Moreover, I aim to show that the radical doubt concerning the applicability of ethnographic practice is not only comparable but intrinsic to both the touristic experience and our study of it. Comparisons between tourists and anthropologists have long been made: both are extremely mobile, 'operate' in places outside of their normal contexts, and possess the paradoxically simultaneous persona of novice and expert. Hence, I argue, the similarities between ethnographer and tourist are both valid and indispensable, needing serious acknowledgement and theorising which allows an opening of the field for a newly radicalised ethnographic praxis.