‘Noble helpers or evil exploiters?’ Contesting and negotiating West-German mass tourism to the global south, 1970–1985

Abstract

ABSTRACT From the 1970s onwards, media commentators, politicians and a wide range of other actors increasingly criticised Western mass tourism to the Global South and highlighted how the perceived misbehaviour of tourists was causing socio-cultural problems. This article analyzes how in the Federal Republic of Germany, social scientists sought to change the perceptions and behaviour of mass tourists in such a way that it benefitted both the tourists and the host community. Focusing on various interventions these scientists implemented to regulate the encounters between tourists and residents during the 1970s and 1980s, this article explores the intersection of mass tourism and global international relations in a postcolonial context. In doing so, this article links the historiography of global mass tourism with the more established historiography of international relations and cultural diplomacy, highlighting the central role of social scientists and the ‘scientization of the social’ in steering post war mass tourism.