Many justice scholars in both environmental and tourism fields assume an identity of scholar-activist. Such an identity demonstrates a move from theory to praxis for scholars. These scholars aim to create on-the-ground change for the communities with whom they work. Sociologist David Pellow frames himself as such a scholar, using his literature and research to help influence waste management policy among other activist efforts (2002). A number of tourism scholars also situate themselves as scholar-activists, working with nonprofit organizations and policymakers to change tourism policy so that it more fully centers local priorities and indigenous ways of knowing (Hales et al., 2017; Peters & Higgins-Desbiolles, 2012). Other scholars use the term engaged scholarship to refer to the transformative work which they practice. Such work has normative goals, moving beyond academic publications or theoretical frameworks to practice engaged scholarship that impacts people’s lives (Wibben et al., 2018).
I aspire my own scholar activism not only to impact people’s lives, but also to democratize research such that I design and conduct my work with the communities in which I work. I enacted such a grassroots and normative approach to my doctoral research through writing editorials and letters to the editor in the local newspaper on Catalina Island, developing the questions for my project alongside community members, presenting results to community leaders, and repeatedly consulting community members on what just tourism development looks like for them in their community (Canfield, 2018a, 2018b). This provides residents with opportunities to define the bounds of the research project, helping refine how scholars can support policy changes and build awareness around issues, and use their academic privilege in ways that are actually relevant to the residents with whom they are trying to build solidarity (Alcoff, 1991). This most directly appeared in that work dissertation in answering how residents in the community I was researching want to rectify the social injustices they are experiencing. Although I also brought in my own analysis and ideas on how to enact these recommendations, study participants developed and reviewed the major recommendations to ensure they matched localized needs.
References
Canfield, K. (2018a, May 4). Letters to the Editor: Residents’ insights on the fairness of local tourism decisions. The Catalina Islander.
Canfield, K. (2018b, September 7). Results of a graduate study on Catalina Island residents’ views of tourism decision-making, power, and justice. The Catalina Islander.
Hales, R., Dredge, D., Higgins-Desbiolles, F., & Jamal, T. (2017). Academic activism in tourism studies: A critical narrative analysis from four researchers. Tourism Analysis, 23, 189–199.
Pellow, D. N. (2002). Garbage Wars: The Struggle for Environmental Justice in Chicago. Cambridge: MIT Press.
Peters, A., & Higgins-Desbiolles, F. (2012). De-Marginalising Tourism Research : Indigenous Australians As Tourists. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 19(6), 76–84. https://doi.org/10.1017/jht.2012.7
Wibben, A., Confortini, C., Roohi, S., Aharoni, S., Vastapuu, L., & Vaittinen, T. (2018). Collective Discussion: Piecing-Up Feminist Research. International Political Sociology, 0, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/oly034