Poszukiwanie dobrego życia na globalnym Południu. Migranci w nieformalnym sektorze turystycznym w Indiach

Abstract

Searching for a Good Life in the Global South. Migrants In the Informal Tourism Sector in India Migration motivated by searching for a good life is usually associated with the privileged citizens of the Global North. This is even more apparent if we look at the intersections of migration and tourism. These are usually ‘expatriates’ from the Global North in the Global South who fulfill their quest running lifestyle oriented small tourism businesses. Meanwhile, migrants who originate from the Global South are imagined as homo economicus, motivated predominantly by better earning opportunities. I challenge this assumption by scrutinizing the informal tourism sector at the Hampi World Heritage site in India. The majority of small entrepreneurs in this sector are seasonal migrants. When asked about the reasons for choosing Hampi, they point at the category of shanti (i.e. tranquility), which they use to counter capitalist notions of profitability. I seek to answer the question of how ‘tranquility’ is defined by them and how this affects their migratory decisions.