Neoliberalising Nature? A comparative analysis of Asian and African elephant based ecotourism

Lead Research Organisation: University of Manchester
Department Name: Social Sciences

Abstract

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Description This research project focused on one of the major theoretical debates in environmental studies: the neoliberalisation of nature (Castree, 2003; Castree 2008; O'Neill, 2007). The project examined the conceptual debates on neoliberalisation and commodification,whch then provided a framework for understanding how tourism might be a mechanism through which nature gets increasingly 'neoliberalised'. In theoretical terms 'neoliberalising nature' is related to wider debates about neoliberalism. There is no clear and universally accepted definition of neoliberalism, but in general, it is regarded as a process by which market-based regulation is expanded, the role of the state is reduced, and a complex array of public-private networks operate together to commodify nature (McCarthy and Prudham, 2004: 275-277; also see Liverman, 2004; Harvey 2005; O'Neill, 2007; Peck and Tickell, 2002). In terms of thinking about how nature might be being neoliberalised, Castree (2008) argues that an increasing range of non-human phenomena have been neoliberalised, where they are subject to an expanding variety of market based systems of management. The aim of the research was to analyse how the clean lines of theoretical models (Castree, 2008) are challenged and contested by their encounter with the material realities of the nature based tourism industry. The project took a grounded theory approach, which allowed us to examine the complex inter-relationships between debates about the neoliberalisation of nature and the practices of the elephant-based tourism industry, specifically the use of captive elephants to allow tourists to engage in close encounters such as riding, washing, feeding elephants as well as watching them paint, play musical instruments or displaying logging skills. In conceptual terms, our analysis of the elephant riding tourism industry revealed that the neoliberalisation of nature is highly varied and diverse, and our understandings of neoliberalism are rendered more complex through an appreciation of these variations. It is clear that while the neoliberalisation of nature might be though of as increasingly pervasive, elephants are commodified and neoliberalised in different ways as a result of their local social, political and economic contexts. This demonstrates the need for a more nuanced understanding of the neoliberalisation of nature which allows for an analysis of its contours, boundaries, limitations: in essence the ways it is contested and challenged on the ground.
Exploitation Route Information of interest to:

Tour operators

Conservation NGOs

Animal Welfare NGOs

Elephant Owners/managers of riding facilities
Sectors Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections
 
Description The findings have been used to develop debates on the inter relationships between neoliberalism and nature.
Sector Education,Environment
Impact Types Cultural
 
Description Conserving capitalism : sustainability and livelihoods in conservation 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact Oxford University Centre for the Environment (OUCE), speaker at OUCE and UCL joint workshop on conservation and sustainable livelihoods. Continued discussion of the social impacts of conservation

Informed debate
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2010
 
Description Development, capitalism and tourism 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact ESRC workshop on tourism and development, developed discussion around neoliberalism

Discussions for future collaboration
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2009
 
Description Regulating Animal Welfare in the Tourism Industry: Elephant trekking in Thailand and Botswana 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.)
Results and Impact Stimulated discussion

Development of future research agendas
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2010