Tourism in a World at Risk

In an era increasingly defined by global instability, insecurity, and collective anxiety, Tourism in a World at Risk offers a timely and critical reassessment of tourism through the lens of classical sociology. Drawing on the foundational insights of thinkers such as Bourdieu, Foucault, Goffman, Beck, and Bauman, this volume explores how tourism reflects and shapes broader social transformations in the face of pandemics, climate change, armed conflict, migration, and surveillance. Rather than treating tourism as a neutral or escapist activity, the book reframes it as a socially embedded and politically regulated practice, deeply intertwined with power, inequality, and moral judgment in high-risk contexts.

Through a series of theory-driven chapters, the authors examine tourism as a site where contemporary tensions—between safety and freedom, leisure and control, mobility and governance—are actively negotiated. Topics include biopolitics and the regulation of movement, symbolic capital and social distinction, the performance of safety in public space, and the shifting meaning of leisure under late capitalism. By revisiting classical sociological frameworks in light of current global crises, this volume contributes to emerging debates in sociology, tourism studies, and cultural geography. It is essential reading for scholars, graduate students, and practitioners seeking to understand how tourism operates within—and responds to—a world increasingly shaped by risk and uncertainty.