Partners in Paradise: Tourism Practices, Heritage Policies, and Anthropological Sites (Asian Thought and Culture)

How and why do some places in the world become symbols of illusive paradise, and what does this mean for their residents? Moving between anthropology, tourism, and the increasingly influential cultural heritage movement, Partners in Paradise examines the origins of a Euro-American fascination with places imagined to exist outside of Modernity. Focusing on the emergence of Tibet and Bali as, in turn, anthropological field sites, tourist destinations, and cultural heritage sites, it argues that the work of academic researchers, tourists, and cultural preservationists inform and constitute each other, in the process constructing particular places as «paradise». Unpacking this process is a necessary first step in understanding how Tibetans and Balinese negotiate their place in a modern world in which the meaning of «paradise» is contested. Drawing on anthropology, history, and tourist studies, Partners in Paradise offers a unique lens on the politics of development, modernization, and cultural preservation. Table of Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Anthropology, Tourism and Heritage 1 Chapter I: Culture in the Field 9 Chapter II: Suspect Others: Tourists at Play 19 Chapter III: To Preserve and Protect: The Intangibles of Heritage 37 Chapter IV: Paradise Found: Bali, Tibet, and the Quest for Paradise 51 Chapter V: Marketing Paradise: The Bali Tourism Project 77 Chapter VI: Paradise Lost: Tourism and Cultural Heritage in Tibet 99 Conclusion: The Politics of Travel 121 Bibliography 127 Index 139 How and why do some places in the world become symbols of illusive paradise, and what does this mean for their residents? This book examines the origins of a Euro-American fascination with places imagined to exist outside of Modernity. It offers a lens on the politics of development, modernization, and cultural preservation. Culture in the field Suspect others : tourists at play To preserve and protect : the intangibles of heritage Paradise found : Bali, Tibet, and the quest for paradise Marketing paradise : the Bali tourism project Paradise lost : state building and cultural heritage in Tibet. This book explores interrelationships between the field practices of anthropology, the preservation goals of cultural heritage, and the consumption desires of tourism, focusing in particular on how they interact in relation to what he calls "paradise-scapes."