Constructing tourism research: A Critical Inquiry

Abstract

The articulation and conceptualisation of power relations in the field of tourism research has been the subject of recent scrutiny. This article makes a significant contribution to this discussion by addressing the world-building and knowledge creation we undertake as researchers. Actor-network theory is presented as a way to encompass knowledge as a relational effect of the creative and constraining workings of heterogeneous entities and performances in tourism research. The article highlights and critically interrogates the practices which generate tourism research and tourism realities, using research narratives to show how knowledge is constantly ordered and orchestrated. The article argues that tourism research can be conceptualised as fractionally coherent, hence cancelling out unproductive discussions of the tourism studies/management divide.