Mobile identities of gender and tourism : the value of social capital

This thesis explores the interrelationships between th holiday experience and social identities of gender, singlehood and midlife. The t oretical framework rests on a feminist approach to Bourdieu’s phenomenology of so cial space, which builds bridges between material and cultural feminism. The interre lationships are studied as lived social relations enabling the scrutiny of incorpora ted and fixed, as well as discursive and fluid, power relations. This approach reveals t hat gender/singlehood/midlife identities in tourism settings are informed by peop l ’s habitus and the tourist gaze (Urry 1990) in addition to being shaped by individu al agency. The research offers a holistic approach to the understanding of tourism p henomenon and gender identities with this approach acknowledging both material powe r relations and cultural acts of resistance. This thesis thus considers the holiday experience and it’s relationship with social identities as a mobile project which is the result of people’s and places’ embodied performances shaped by both material and c ultural relations. Within this analysis Putnam’s concept of bonding social capital is explored as a valuable asset for tourists with holiday experiences identified as imp ortant for social integration. Tourism mobilities refer to performed holiday experience. These tenets are used to explore 32 Norwegian midli fe (35-55) single women’s accounts of their holidays and identities. The empi rical research combines focus group interviews conducted before and after the participa nts’ holidays with solicited diaries completed during these holidays. The methodological approach is informed by feminist research principles. The analysis provides five main findings: first, so lo holiday experiences are first and foremost associated with fears of loneliness and ma rgin lisation; secondly, many of the midlife single women seek shared holiday experi ences and the social identity of the friend; thirdly, the temporal lack of social capita l results in the largely negative social identity of the loner; but, fourthly, a positive, i nterpretation of the loner is linked to the restaurant experience in cities and during the day; when the experience is less constructed to require social capital. Finally, a f ew of the women have learned to manage several aspects of solo holidays and thus de veloped the social identity of the independent traveller. These women, in particular, h ve agency, but the research shows that many of the other women also engage in tactica l behaviour to negotiate holiday experiences. Whilst recognising the material constraints of econ omic capital and other structural factors, the evidence presented within this thesis demonstrates that women do have cultural agency and that it is the women’s repeated cts, within the space previously defined by Aitchison (2003) as the social-cultural nexus, which have the power to reshape both the material and symbolic nature of no t simply the holiday but of everyday life. This transformation of habitus is greatly influenced by the development of social capital. The value of social capital is t hus seen to accommodate the needs and desires of individuals rather than, or in combinati on with, structures and regulations inherent in the holiday experience. Emanating from the findings, and extending beyond tourism studies, is the conclusion that investments in social capital associated with ‘the holiday’ have wider significance for developing a s en e of belonging in everyday life.