The appeal of sacred sites remains undiminished at the start of the twenty-first century, as unprecedented numbers of visitors travel to Lourdes, Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, and even Star Trek conventions.  Ethnographic analysis of the conflicts over resources and meanings associated with such sites, as well as the sense of community they inspire, provides compelling evidence re-emphasizing the links between pilgrimage and tourism. As the papers in this collection demonstrate, studies of these forms of journeying are at the forefront of postmodern debates about movement and centers, global flows, social identities, and the negotiation of meanings.

The appeal of sacred sites remains undiminished at the start of the twenty-first century, as unprecedented numbers of visitors travel to Lourdes, Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, and even Star Trek conventions.  Ethnographic analysis of the conflicts over resources and meanings associated with such sites, as well as the sense of community they inspire, provides compelling evidence re-emphasizing the links between pilgrimage and tourism. As the papers in this collection demonstrate, studies of these forms of journeying are at the forefront of postmodern debates about movement and centers, global flows, social identities, and the negotiation of meanings.  

This book examines how the growth of tourism in locations that have historically been considered geographically remote plays a major role in the consolidation and transformation of often longstanding and powerful cultural imaginaries about ‘the edges of the world’. The contributors examine the attraction of the sublime, remoteness, continental border-points, and the dangers of the sea in Finisterre (or Fisterra) in Galicia (Spain); Finistère in Brittany (France); Land’s End, Cornwall (England); Lough Derg (Ireland); Nordkapp or North Cape (Norway); Cape Spear, Newfoundland (Canada); and Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). While those travelling to these locations can be seen to be conducting some form of religious or secular pilgrimage, those who live in them have long contended with the implications of economic and political marginalization within global political economies.

This book examines how the growth of tourism in locations that have historically been considered geographically remote plays a major role in the consolidation and transformation of often longstanding and powerful cultural imaginaries about ‘the edges of the world’. The contributors examine the attraction of the sublime, remoteness, continental border-points, and the dangers of the sea in Finisterre (or Fisterra) in Galicia (Spain); Finistère in Brittany (France); Land’s End, Cornwall (England); Lough Derg (Ireland); Nordkapp or North Cape (Norway); Cape Spear, Newfoundland (Canada); and Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). While those travelling to these locations can be seen to be conducting some form of religious or secular pilgrimage, those who live in them have long contended with the implications of economic and political marginalization within global political economies.

Anthropological case studies of the interplay of space, culture, and power in Iberia since 1850.Focusing on the interplay of space, culture, and power in Iberia since 1850, this collection of case studies demonstrates how questions about social identities and power are also questions about mapping, texts, and concrete spaces. The late nineteenth and twentieth centuries are marked by a drive toward grandiose ideological conceptualizations that affected the production of ideas about modern geographical space. The contributors examine the links between this historical context and the emergence of specific intellectual traditions, as well as everyday discourses and practices. They also explore the making of conflicted spaces in Portugal and Spain, and in foreign sites impacted by Iberian-origin exile or colonial settlement. The essays compel readers to consider exactly how people's political identifications have been forged through cultural struggles over the uses and meanings of physical spaces, whether these are in Barcelona, Bilbao, villages in the Alto Douro of Portugal or in Galician Spain, Malacca, the countryside near Ávila (the "City of the Saints"), or Catalans' wartime London.

Anthropological case studies of the interplay of space, culture, and power in Iberia since 1850.Focusing on the interplay of space, culture, and power in Iberia since 1850, this collection of case studies demonstrates how questions about social identities and power are also questions about mapping, texts, and concrete spaces. The late nineteenth and twentieth centuries are marked by a drive toward grandiose ideological conceptualizations that affected the production of ideas about modern geographical space. The contributors examine the links between this historical context and the emergence of specific intellectual traditions, as well as everyday discourses and practices. They also explore the making of conflicted spaces in Portugal and Spain, and in foreign sites impacted by Iberian-origin exile or colonial settlement. The essays compel readers to consider exactly how people's political identifications have been forged through cultural struggles over the uses and meanings of physical spaces, whether these are in Barcelona, Bilbao, villages in the Alto Douro of Portugal or in Galician Spain, Malacca, the countryside near Ávila (the "City of the Saints"), or Catalans' wartime London.

The appeal of sacred sites remains undiminished at the start of the twenty-first century, as unprecedented numbers of visitors travel to Lourdes, Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, and even Star Trek conventions.  Ethnographic analysis of the conflicts over resources and meanings associated with such sites, as well as the sense of community they inspire, provides compelling evidence re-emphasizing the links between pilgrimage and tourism. As the papers in this collection demonstrate, studies of these forms of journeying are at the forefront of postmodern debates about movement and centers, global flows, social identities, and the negotiation of meanings.

The appeal of sacred sites remains undiminished at the start of the twenty-first century, as unprecedented numbers of visitors travel to Lourdes, Rome, Jerusalem, Santiago de Compostela, and even Star Trek conventions.  Ethnographic analysis of the conflicts over resources and meanings associated with such sites, as well as the sense of community they inspire, provides compelling evidence re-emphasizing the links between pilgrimage and tourism. As the papers in this collection demonstrate, studies of these forms of journeying are at the forefront of postmodern debates about movement and centers, global flows, social identities, and the negotiation of meanings.  

This book examines how the growth of tourism in locations that have historically been considered geographically remote plays a major role in the consolidation and transformation of often longstanding and powerful cultural imaginaries about ‘the edges of the world’. The contributors examine the attraction of the sublime, remoteness, continental border-points, and the dangers of the sea in Finisterre (or Fisterra) in Galicia (Spain); Finistère in Brittany (France); Land’s End, Cornwall (England); Lough Derg (Ireland); Nordkapp or North Cape (Norway); Cape Spear, Newfoundland (Canada); and Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). While those travelling to these locations can be seen to be conducting some form of religious or secular pilgrimage, those who live in them have long contended with the implications of economic and political marginalization within global political economies.

This book examines how the growth of tourism in locations that have historically been considered geographically remote plays a major role in the consolidation and transformation of often longstanding and powerful cultural imaginaries about ‘the edges of the world’. The contributors examine the attraction of the sublime, remoteness, continental border-points, and the dangers of the sea in Finisterre (or Fisterra) in Galicia (Spain); Finistère in Brittany (France); Land’s End, Cornwall (England); Lough Derg (Ireland); Nordkapp or North Cape (Norway); Cape Spear, Newfoundland (Canada); and Tierra del Fuego (Argentina). While those travelling to these locations can be seen to be conducting some form of religious or secular pilgrimage, those who live in them have long contended with the implications of economic and political marginalization within global political economies.

Anthropological case studies of the interplay of space, culture, and power in Iberia since 1850.Focusing on the interplay of space, culture, and power in Iberia since 1850, this collection of case studies demonstrates how questions about social identities and power are also questions about mapping, texts, and concrete spaces. The late nineteenth and twentieth centuries are marked by a drive toward grandiose ideological conceptualizations that affected the production of ideas about modern geographical space. The contributors examine the links between this historical context and the emergence of specific intellectual traditions, as well as everyday discourses and practices. They also explore the making of conflicted spaces in Portugal and Spain, and in foreign sites impacted by Iberian-origin exile or colonial settlement. The essays compel readers to consider exactly how people's political identifications have been forged through cultural struggles over the uses and meanings of physical spaces, whether these are in Barcelona, Bilbao, villages in the Alto Douro of Portugal or in Galician Spain, Malacca, the countryside near Ávila (the "City of the Saints"), or Catalans' wartime London.

Anthropological case studies of the interplay of space, culture, and power in Iberia since 1850.Focusing on the interplay of space, culture, and power in Iberia since 1850, this collection of case studies demonstrates how questions about social identities and power are also questions about mapping, texts, and concrete spaces. The late nineteenth and twentieth centuries are marked by a drive toward grandiose ideological conceptualizations that affected the production of ideas about modern geographical space. The contributors examine the links between this historical context and the emergence of specific intellectual traditions, as well as everyday discourses and practices. They also explore the making of conflicted spaces in Portugal and Spain, and in foreign sites impacted by Iberian-origin exile or colonial settlement. The essays compel readers to consider exactly how people's political identifications have been forged through cultural struggles over the uses and meanings of physical spaces, whether these are in Barcelona, Bilbao, villages in the Alto Douro of Portugal or in Galician Spain, Malacca, the countryside near Ávila (the "City of the Saints"), or Catalans' wartime London.