Integrating Indigenous values with capitalism through tourism: Alaskan experiences and outstanding issues

ABSTRACT

Radical theories from political economy assert that capitalism is founded on the creation and appropriation of surplus value through exploiting human labor and nature. Such exploitative social and social–ecological relations are generally understood as contradictory to Indigenous worldviews, which tend to emphasize community well-being and environmental reciprocity over maximizing private accumulation. Enter tourism, tantalizing in its promise as a “silver bullet” for Indigenous sustainable development. When done “right”, tourism can generate capitalist economic activity without drastically damaging cultural and ecological systems. This study examines spaces of confluence and divergence in Barrow, Alaska, between current tourism and the values of its Indigenous people, the Iñupiat. It considers the scenario of increased tourism in the future and identifies local visions for expanding tourism in a culturally appropriate manner. Key ideas for future development include increasing regulation of cruise ship tourists and enhancing capacity to host high-end tourists. The study reveals conflicting views about using subsistence hunting, fishing and whaling activities as tourism attractions, and concludes that the ability of leaders in Barrow to support Indigenous values through tourism highlights an opportunity and need for a research agenda focused on exploring the relationship between capitalism and its alternatives within tourism destinations.

使本土价值观通过旅游与资本主义结合：阿拉斯加的经验和突出问题 摘要

激进政治经济学主张的资本主义基础与原住民世界观常被认为互相矛盾，发展旅游业是被它作为本土可持续发展捷径的保证所吸引。研究调查了阿拉斯加巴罗旅游业现状和当地因纽特人价值观的融合和分歧，考虑未来旅游业增长的情境和确认以文化上适当的方式扩展旅游业的当地愿景；揭露了将维持生计的传统作为旅游景点的矛盾观点，推断巴罗领导者借旅游维持本土价值观的能力突显了探索旅游目的地资本主义和其替代品关系的研究机会及需求。

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous capitalism
• Iñupiaq values
• Arctic tourism
• Arctic development
• Alaska tourism
• critical theory

关键字:

• 原住民资本主义
• 因纽特人价值观
• 北极旅游
• 北极发展
• 阿拉斯加旅游
• 批判理论

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the journal's editors and three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments, and the community of Barrow.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Iñupiaq is the adjective form of Iñupiat (a plural noun) and also the name of the native language. The spelling with a ‘q’ is used for the singular form of the noun as well.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported in part by a UAF Center for Global Change Student Research Grant with funds from the UAF Center for Global Change. Funding was also provided by National Science Foundation Award Number 1263850.

Notes on contributors

Kevin Hillmer-Pegram

Kevin Hillmer-Pegram is a geographer interested in Arctic change, sustainable tourism and the integration of critical and non-critical approaches to research and practice. He believes the key to positive social-ecological change at local to global scales lies in the pursuit of social justice.