Rethinking embodiment in tourism research

Michelle I.C. Yang

Annals of Tourism Research, 2025, vol. 110, issue C

Abstract: This paper revisits the embodiment turn in tourism research, challenging dominant assumptions such as the universality of normative bodies and the neutrality of tourism spaces. Using a problematization approach, it critiques existing paradigms and integrates perspectives from embodied cognition, intersectionality, and socio-cultural theories. The paper proposes a conceptual framework comprising four dimensions—experiential, performative, ideological, and disciplinary—emphasizing the dynamic interplay between embodied agency and tourism spaces. By advancing a more comprehensive and inclusive definition of embodiment, the study highlights the relational, intersectional, and contextual dimensions that shape tourism experiences. In addressing existing conceptual limitations, this work contributes to a more critical understanding of embodiment in tourism. It offers directions for future research to foster more equitable and inclusive tourism systems.

Keywords: Embodiment; Intersectionality; Tourism space; Embodied agency; Problematization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:110:y:2025:i:c:s0160738324001695

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2024.103892

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