Ecotours and politics of fun in Iran

From contested state-society relations to emancipatory nature-society relations

Bibliographic Data

ID3480263
AuthorsSimin Fadaee (0000-0003-4660-6924, The University of Manchester, UK, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume66
Issue6
Pages1276-1291
Publication date2018-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0038026118774981
OpenAlexW2791236097
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited44

This article shows how nature-society relations in Iran's burgeoning ecotourism industry are influenced by power-laden state-society relations and the state's regulation of public space. Based on original research, this article demonstrates that ecotours operate as a means through which young middle-class residents of Tehran practise fun beyond the socio-political restrictions they face in the city's public sphere. Non-human nature represents a safe setting for these ecotourists to engage in restricted 'unislamic' practices of self-expression and socialization. In other words, the non-human nature functions as a zone of transgression. This article provides an example of how the nature-society interface can provide opportunities to defy conservative social norms in a restricted socio-political system and it shows that the influence of political systems on nature-society relations requires more explicit analysis. Moreover, it enhances our understanding of everyday politics in a society where social conducts in the public sphere are heavily controlled

Environmental ethics · Face (sociological concept) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Public space · Public sphere · Social science · Socialization · Sociology · State (computer science) · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Islamic Studies and History · Law

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access