An Ethnographic Analysis of the Impacts of Tourism on Social Capital and Adaptive Capacity: Integrating Resilience and Development Theories

Open Access
- Author:
- Naylor, Ryan
- Graduate Program:
- Recreation, Park and Tourism Management
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- April 22, 2020
- Committee Members:
- Carter A Hunt, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Derrick Taff, Committee Member
Karl Zimmerer, Committee Member
Peter Newman, Program Head/Chair - Keywords:
- Social Capital
Adaptive Capacity
Resilience
Tourism
Alaska
Ethnographic - Abstract:
- The research seeks to holistically understand how tourism is influencing the community resilience of Petersburg, Alaska. Primarily inductive in nature, this ethnographic research is driven by questions revolving around 1) resiliency theory and the concept of adaptive capacity, 2) development theory and the concept of social capital, and 3) the potential integration of these two theoretical perspectives. This work also deductively considers several theoretically derived hypothetical statements derived from the literature on these concepts. The analysis integrates data gathered via ethnographic methods of participant observation, archival research, and interviews designed to capture emic view of key community-level informants. Purposive sampling on the basis of high levels of cultural expertise yielded data from individuals of diverse demographics within the community, permitting a broad, idiographic understanding of the ways that tourism influences social capital, social adaptive capacity, and thus decision-making processes regarding tourism development within the community. This analysis suggests that social capital is an important antecedent for the types of effective actions needed to increase adaptive capacity. Furthermore, the findings indicate that integration of social capital and adaptive capacity is necessary for identifying the most sustainable pathways forward for tourism development in communities. In this regard, a social capital accounts for the social components of adaptive capacity, where the integration of both concepts illuminates what actions are not only feasible, but what actions are likely to yield sustainable development outcomes. By answering the research questions posed, this thesis provides many opportunities for other scholars to integrate social capital and adaptive capacity in the analysis of tourism-related socio-ecological resiliency and sustainable community development.