Slumming It – The Tourist Valorisation of Urban Poverty

TheCenterforTechnologyandSociety(Zentrum
TechnikundGesellschaft,ZTG)andtheCenterfor
MetropolitanStudies(CMS)present:
SlummingIt–TheTouristValorisationofUrban
Poverty
BookPresentationandAuthorMeetsCritic
2ndFebruary2017,18.00h-20.00h
TUBerlin,HBS-1,Room6.06
(Hardenbergstrasse16-18,10623Berlin,S/U
ZoologischerGarten)
DrFabianFrenzel
VisitingResearcherCTS&UniversityofLeicester,UK
ProfessorHassoSpode(Respondent)
TUBerlin(HAT)&Leibniz-UniversitätHannover(Inst.für
Soziologie)
DrGabrieleWendorf(Chair)
ScientificDirector,CTS
InhisnewbookDrFabianFrenzelreflectson‘slumming’asasocialpracticethattakesbetter-offvisitorsto
areasofurbanpoverty.Withalonghistorydatingtothe19thcentury,slummingtodayisasignificanturban
tourismnichewithover1Miotoursannuallysold,takinginpoorneighbourhoodsandslumsinthelarger
citiesofSouthAfrica,RiodeJaneiroandMumbai.
Frenzelinvestigatesthiscontroversialpasttime,reflectingontheethicaldebatesittriggersandthemoral
ambiguityinvolved.Questingashorthandrejectionofslummingasvoyeuristic,hehighlightsthe
persuasivenessoftravelpracticesandmobilitiesthattakerelativelywealthyvisitorsintoneighbourhoodsof
thepoor,includingvolunteering,activismandresearchtourism.
Frenzelunderstandscontemporaryslumtourismasasocialpracticecloselytiedtoattemptsatmanaging
inequalityandpovertyinanemergenttransnationalcareregime.Inthebook,tourismisrecastasa
productive,andpotentiallyrebelliousforcethataffectsurbanplacemakingandintervenesinlocalsocial
conflicts.Tourism’sproductivity,orvalorisation,mayenhanceandamplifylocalstrugglesforrecognition
andresources,butisalsopronetobeingcapturedinurbanregenerationschemesandgentrification.
DrFabianFrenzelislecturerinOrganisationStudiesattheUniversityofLeicester,UK.Heisvisiting
researcheratCenterforTechnologyandSociety(researcharea“SocialMovements,Technology,Conflicts”).
ProfessorDrHassoSpodeisdirectoroftheHistoricalArchiveonTourism(Willy-Scharnow-Archiv) at
Technische Universität Berlin (HAT at CTS/CMS)
Dr Gabriele Wendorf is scientific director of the Center for Technology and Society, Technical University Berlin

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