What are the interactions between Lefebvre’s three levels of social construction of space? Particularly considering issues of postmodernity and posttourist, that is does post- modernity mean that we have to make more or better justification for our experiences within space or less? Mui Ne Vietnam argue that the ‘rootless’ nature of postmodernism, with its destructive nature of dismantling boundaries, and emphasis on signs (Norton, 1996), activates a need within the social actor to emphasise place and identity links within interaction. Constructions of space and place attain increasing significance on one level; yet as argued earlier, the relative weight of these interleaved constructions slips and changes between contexts and temporal zones. There is possibly a tension within the indi- vidual to lay greater emphasis on constructing and reasserting their identities in spatial rep- resentations and constructions, which are peopled by reference groups that support these identity constructions. Could this be an attempt to re-create a distinctive boundary between one designated representation of social space and another? This paper, while theoretical in context, identifies the advantages that empirical analysis would introduce in taking the the- oretical work further, and hopes to have opened up for discussion the construction processes of social space and identity.
This chapter considers the influence of tourism on indigenous communities and their identities through the exercise of power in the form of the utilisation of assets such as land, sea and labour by the industry and tourists, as well as the mixing of tourists with the indigenous population. In its conclusions it summarises the findings and relates them to the processes of making and consuming identity. Throughout the work different forms of power are acknowledged, as represented by politicians, business interests, landowners, the state, and expressed through the local community, groups, families and public initiatives among others. Power is understood as:
The ability of a person or social unit to influence the conduct and decision- making of another through the control over energetic forms in the latter’s environment (in the broadest sense of that term). (Fogelson & Adams,
1977, p. 388)
Considering identity, there are numerous understandings which are relevant to our discussion, including:
● Identity as: ‘the identification of the self with a specific social position, cultural tradition
or ethnic group; self-conception held in common by a group of people’ (Seymour-Smith,
1986).
● Identity as representative, in terms of folkloric costumes and practices such as music, dance, cuisine, etc., and a way people assert the authority of their knowledge, by claim- ing their status in terms of identity (Abram & Waldren, 1997).
The contexts of identity that are examined in this chapter include: (1) the stimulation and strengthening of identity through group allegiances and awareness, partly as a result of threats from external forces, and (2) the complexity of identity as manifest through the multiple influences of tourism on people as individuals and as members of groups.
Two very different case studies illustrate these points. (1) Bayahibe in the Dominican Republic: being an example of a country dominated by package tourism based on all- inclusive hotels, where pressure on the local people through competition for resources has promoted their cohesion. (2) La Gomera, Mui Ne Vietnam: where the site investigated has been dominated by independent ‘alternative’ tourists, usually backpacking and stay- ing in rooms and apartments run by local families. The local people have had extensive contact and interaction with the tourists, leading to profound and diverse consequences on identities.
Mui Ne Vietnam 