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Inhabiting as Key Concept for a Theory of Tourism?

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Progress in French Tourism Geographies

Part of the book series: Geographies of Tourism and Global Change ((GTGC))

Abstract

This chapter aims at evaluating the contributions and limitations of the concept of inhabiting for tackling empirical questions and theoretical issues in tourism. Seemingly contradictory with tourism because of its relation with proximity and immobility, the notion’s sense can be broadened in order to include the engagement with multiple places and mobilities. A first section recalls the origins of the notions and the contemporary use within geography and aims at a critique from the point of view of mobility issues. The second section addresses various notions of a coherent framework. The third section defines tourist practices as a “mode of inhabiting” places and elaborates on the tourist as “temporary inhabitant” of places. The fourth section moves further towards the definition of “dwelling styles” as the spatial dimensions of lifestyles, where places and mobilities are focused on. The fifth section aims at evaluating how the notion of inhabiting can be helpful in tackling contemporary issues in tourism studies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See the national platform for doctoral dissertations http://theses.fr/en/accueil.jsp for contributions on “habiter” in French social science.

  2. 2.

    This corresponds to the distinction in French between the verb “habiter” and the noun “l’habiter”. The latter could be translated as “dwelling” and the former as “to inhabit”.

  3. 3.

    die Weise, wie die Sterblichen auf der Erde sind’ (2004a, 142); “Grundzug des menschlichen Daseins” (2004b, 183); “Bezug der Menschen zu Orten und durch Orte zu Räumen” (2004a, 152). „Der Bezug des Menschen zu Orten und durch Orte zu Räumen beruht im Wohnen. Das Verhältnis von Mensch und Raum ist nichts anderes als das wesentlich gedachte Wohnen“(ibid., 152).

  4. 4.

    “Il ne faut donc pas dire que notre corps est dans l’espace ni d’ailleurs qu’il est dans le temps. Il habite l’espace et le temps”.

  5. 5.

    „Multilokalität bedeutet Vita activa an mehreren Orten: Der tätige Lebensalltag in seiner Gesamtheit verteilt sich auf verschiedene Orte, die in mehr oder weniger grossen Zeiträumen aufgesucht und mit einer mehr oder weniger grossen Funktionsteiligkeit genutzt werden“.

  6. 6.

    “ce que l’on peut nommer ‘l’habiter poly-topique’ par rapport à ‘l’habiter mono-topique’ se caractérise par la recherche d’adéquation entre lieux et pratiques. Cela signifie que pour chaque projet, pour chaque tranche de vie, les individus tendent à choisir le lieu adéquat par l’adoption de stratégies migratoires ou circulatoires”.

  7. 7.

    The distinction between proper place (Eigenort) and other place (Fremdort) stems from Waldenfels (1984).

  8. 8.

    “Unter Lebensform ist […] die Einstellung des Ich-Bewusstseins zur Welt gemeint” (Schütz 1973).

  9. 9.

    Exister, pour l’être humain, c’est toujours vivre avec, toujours cohabiter, aussi peu que ce soit. Cette constatation doit former la base de toute réflexion sur l’habiter

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Stock, M. (2021). Inhabiting as Key Concept for a Theory of Tourism?. In: Stock, M. (eds) Progress in French Tourism Geographies. Geographies of Tourism and Global Change. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52136-3_2

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