Stephen Britton

The political economy of tourism in the Third World.

Abstract When a Third World country uses tourism as a development strategy, it becomes enmeshed in a global system over which it has little control. The international tourism industry is a product of metropolitan capitalist enterprise. The superior entrepreneurial skills, resources, and commercial power of metropolitan companies enables them to dominate many Third World tourist destinations. This paper outlines the dynamics of this process, particularly in the context of the South Pacific.

The evolution of a colonial space-economy: the case of Fiji

Abstract The penetration by western capitalism of the pre-capitalist world laid the foundations for an externally oriented, distorted and dependent form of development. This occurred through the subordination of indigenous societies and the highly selective exploitation of local resources by foreign capital. The means by which this occurred are directly expressed in the historical evolution of an underdeveloped countrys space-economy. The case study of Fiji is used as an illustration of this process.

The role of services in production

ion will lead to the identification of a variety of relationships which may or may not be directly transferrable between levels.

Book reviews : Lea, J. 1988: Tourism and development in the third world. London: Routledge. vi + 88 pp. £5.95 paper

ion from concrete social relations which determine a myriad possible relationships between the industry and national social structure, economic accumulation, social change and the environment. At the same time, much of the ’politicaleconomy’ literature has failed to assess the impacts and trade offs inherent in the industry as comprehensively as it might have done if researchers had taken the time to integrate some of the insights and techniques of orthodox economics and other social sciences. Nor, to take one example, have recently developed conceptual tools used in industrial geography been applied to the tourist industry. ’ In such a short volume, John Lea could not hope to cover all aspects of the operation and impacts of tourism in developing countries. But the task of deciding what topics should be given priority, and hence how the book deals with the most pressing political and academic concerns, is made difficult when the literature the author is reliant on does not itself address many pressing issues. The end product is an introductory text that is unbalanced. It only partially provides students with the necessary intellectual tools adequately to assess and understand international tourism as an industry and component of a globally integrated capitalitist economy. Nor does it direct a student’s focus to the significance and nature of social relations found in each destination country, how they shape the organization and operation of the industry locally, and in turn, influence its impacts and role in the local economy and social fabric. University of Auckland Stephen Britton