The socio-economic complexity of gift-giving and philanthropy through innovations in tourism in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Brighton
Department Name: Sch of Applied Social Sciences
Abstract
The proposed research title is "The socio-economic complexity of gift-giving and philanthropy through
innovations in tourism in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)". Tourism-related gift-giving in low income countries, referred
to here as 'travel philanthropy', represents a global trend including private philanthropists travelling to Africa
and engaging in questionable gift-giving practices directly to local recipients or via tourism businesses. There is
however limited evidence about the meaning, significance and impact of gift-giving through tourism, and the
perspectives of intended 'beneficiaries' are highly speculative. A study of this activity will contribute to wider
social science debates about aid dependency, and academic and policy discourses around the UN Sustainable
Development Goals. This multi-stakeholder research is timely in addressing gaps in critical knowledge on giftgiving/
receiving engagements and their relationships to tourism business management practices and
innovations in SSA. As an under-researched concept, travel philanthropy will initially be framed by theories
drawn from business innovation, tourism management and anthropology. A qualitative methodology, including
participatory research amongst local people in the 'aid chain', will offer the first empirically grounded taxonomy
and comprehensive analysis of the 'impacts' of tangible forms of gift-giving on marginalised communities and
the processes that shape gift giving practices. A constructivist approach will be taken to the inquiry and an
inductive analysis will allow theorisations to be shaped. Participatory and ethnographic methods, including
visual and narrative methods, alongside semi-structured interviews and value chain analysis will be employed.
An investigation across 2-3 SSA case study locations will produce comparative evidence that is currently lacking
innovations in tourism in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)". Tourism-related gift-giving in low income countries, referred
to here as 'travel philanthropy', represents a global trend including private philanthropists travelling to Africa
and engaging in questionable gift-giving practices directly to local recipients or via tourism businesses. There is
however limited evidence about the meaning, significance and impact of gift-giving through tourism, and the
perspectives of intended 'beneficiaries' are highly speculative. A study of this activity will contribute to wider
social science debates about aid dependency, and academic and policy discourses around the UN Sustainable
Development Goals. This multi-stakeholder research is timely in addressing gaps in critical knowledge on giftgiving/
receiving engagements and their relationships to tourism business management practices and
innovations in SSA. As an under-researched concept, travel philanthropy will initially be framed by theories
drawn from business innovation, tourism management and anthropology. A qualitative methodology, including
participatory research amongst local people in the 'aid chain', will offer the first empirically grounded taxonomy
and comprehensive analysis of the 'impacts' of tangible forms of gift-giving on marginalised communities and
the processes that shape gift giving practices. A constructivist approach will be taken to the inquiry and an
inductive analysis will allow theorisations to be shaped. Participatory and ethnographic methods, including
visual and narrative methods, alongside semi-structured interviews and value chain analysis will be employed.
An investigation across 2-3 SSA case study locations will produce comparative evidence that is currently lacking
Organisations
Studentship Projects
| Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ES/P000673/1 | 01/10/2017 | 30/09/2027 | |||
| 1956461 | Studentship | ES/P000673/1 | 01/10/2017 | 31/03/2021 | Amy Scarth |
| Description | University end of year conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | An academic poster was presented at the end of year conference attended by early and late stage SCDTP PhD students which sparked discussions about preliminary research findings and introduced an example of a systems and complexity approach to early stage researcher developing their research plans. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |