<特集 ヴァナキュラー・ツーリズムからみる南アジア --宗教・聖地・観光-- >

Abstract

In an era of accelerating global mobility for goods, people, and information, local communities have undergone significant transformation. Global trade and transportation networks have established diverse global supply chains, leading to the worldwide circulation of goods and the transformation of relationships between goods, people, and society. In mobility studies, tourism is an optimal phenomenon for understanding the characteristics and societal implications of global mobility. While tourism is believed to assimilate localities into the global system, cultural anthropologists have argued otherwise. They contend that tourism's globalization does not homogenize the world; but rather enhances the diversity of localities within the global context. In this sense, this special issue considers contemporary ways of tourism mobility, using the term “vernacular tourism” to discuss the existence of localities shaped by global tourism experiences. Vernacular tourism encompasses both the manifestation of region-specific norms in international tourism and localized practices visible within the global tourism market. Particularly evident in South Asia through pilgrimage practices and sacred sites, this concept emphasizes the manifestation of vernacular elements influenced by the entry of global tourism systems into South Asian societies.