Blogging Hiatus

Gentle Reader,

Some five years into the life of Afrika T, I now find myself unable to keep up with contributions at a level that I and you have come to expect from this blog. Partly this is because of other activities in responsible tourism (see example here, and another here), partly from other projects in sustainability (see examples here and here), and partly for reasons that are more personal.

I am certainly still active online and in responsible travel, so feel free to comment on existing posts here, to follow me on Twitter, and to note what I've been reading online via Delicious. I also hope to return to Afrika T, so am not bringing the blog to a halt, just declaring a hiatus of indefinite duration...

Thank you for your support over the years, and, if you're a newcomer to the site, may it still prove valuable.

Kind regards

Kurt

5 December 2011




Thursday, 27 January 2011

ethical consumerism: 'farce' says Zizek

This short, incisive animation by the RSA of philosopher Slavoj Zizek's opinion of charity and the trend toward ethical consumerism is an important critique of the foundations of responsible tourism and ethical travel. A philosopher of the radical left attacking bleeding heart liberalism? You betcha. The knives are out.

Does ethical consumerism merely reinforce the system that keeps the needy needy and the powerful in power? Or does it introduce a counter-influence to the profit-seeking of market capitalism that changes the dynamics from a zero-sum game to something less red in tooth and claw?


I have to confess my own growing ambivalence here. Would love to hear from others on this fundamental issue.



Profile of Zizek from the Telegraph (UK) here, Zizek's bio at the European Graduate School here. Some of my earlier thoughts on charity and travel can be found here.

[Photo of Zizek: Wikipedia]

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