Conceptual framework

In this section we explain what fields of study inform the first part of our research puzzle: understanding the local and global sociocultural phenomena as well as the underlying constructs and political-economic conditions that underpin the ways in which tourism is practised. We also seek to understand the processes and constituting elements of the construction of city neighbourhoods as locality (a place to which one belongs) to then ask why and how our stakeholders as city residents come to perceive tourism as a place-(un)making agent.

Anthropology of tourism addresses issues such as the production of tourism imaginaries and the commodification of heritage and the marketing of ‘culture’ which contribute to how places are transformed into destinations. These then shape the coexistence between their inhabitants and the visiting 'other'. The latest studies see tourism as “an inextricable aspect of social, cultural and economic life around the globe [and] a crucial medium for and reflection of globalization” (Leite and Graburn, 2009, p. 55).

Another essential theoretical paradigm is the anthropology of place and space in as much as it looks into the social construction and production of place; that is, both the subjective and political-economic conditions of place-making and its intersection with the construction of group identities. As Low and Lawrence-Zuniga (2012, p. 14) note, “the relationship between people and their environment has been conceived as reciprocal and mutually constituting, one in which identity is negotiated through interactions with the environment.”

It is important to remark that the anthropologies of tourism and of place and space share substantial common conceptual ground. For example, the literature on tourism recognizes tourism imaginaries as “potent propellers of socio-cultural and environmental change, and essential elements in the process of identity formation, the making of place and the perpetual invention of culture.” (Salazar and Graburn, 2014, p. 13) while literature on space and place-making has covered tourist sites as “contested spaces that lie at the intersection of diverse and competing social, economic and political influences.” (Low and Lawrence-Zuniga, 2012, p. 23).

A note on the relative novelty of the topic

It has been noted that the case studies and ethnographies on tourism and citizens' mobilization around the right to the city compiled by the literature consulted, (2009-2014) address scenarios that differ substantially from ours. They cover tourism-related phenomena, space contestation and citizenship rights negotiation mostly in the context of the Global South, often in remote, rural locations. When concerned with cities of the Global North, the populations studies are ethnic minorities and immigrant communities. Our stakeholders, however, are long-term residents of a major European capital in a OECD economy and former colonial power, with a GDP of 50, 540 USD per capita (IMF DATA MAPPER, 2017). They can be broadly characterized as predominantly 'native' Dutch, white, affluent middle-class with access to the conventional political participation channels provided by a parliamentary democracy and in possession of political knowledge and the ‘right’ social capital such as tertiary education and white-collar professions. This them apart from other population sectors more typically affected by the social exclusion processes that have attracted more attention from anthropologists, geographers and urbanists, including in the city of Amsterdam.

Our impression has been that reactions to tourism growth in urban settings in the Global North was very thinly covered if at all by the available literature. This was confirmed by the publication of the first compilation of case studies that addresses the issue directly. Protest and Resistance in the Tourist City (2016), which acknowledges so explicitly:

“to our knowledge, so far no coordinated attempt has been made to provide a wide-ranging international overview (in English) of the types of controversies, conflicts and protests that have emerged in response to tourism’s ascendancy within the contemporary urban fabric, as well as its increasingly significant role in the economic and political agendas of urban policy-makers. The present volume attempts to fill this gap. It contends that controversies, debates and protests surrounding urban tourism not only warrant investigation in their own right, but also offer a useful lens through which fresh light can be cast on the profound role tourism plays in contemporary cities, as well as on the current ‘urban moment’ more generally with its attendant conflicts”. (Colomb and Novy, 2016, pp. 5-6)

In the following sub-sections grouped under the title "The City Centre as Contested Space," we apply concepts extracted from the aforementioned fields of study to the interpretation of the data collected during fieldwork in Amsterdam, to answer the part of the research question concerned with understanding how our stakeholders experience and construct the perceived touristification of Amsterdam’s city centre.

Major concepts:

• Tourism Imaginaries (for example, as drivers of phenomena such as touristification and Disneyfication)
• Touristification, disneyfication and gentrification
• Place-(Un)Making processes and associated phenomena
• Liveability