Political Realities
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Inviting the World to your Backyard: Nature-based Tourism for Sustainable Development
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Brenda Kauffman
In the post-COVID world tourism will once again become a major factor in global economics. Local economies that have been devastated by the loss of tourism will be looking for ways to draw visitors back to their beaches, cities, and mountains. The impacts of tourism on the environment are significant and well-studied. Nature based solutions have gained attention as a more responsible approach to managing resources and implementing policies to mitigate climate change and protect natural resources, but assessing their viability and effectiveness remains underdeveloped. This research builds on the work of Nathalie Seddon, Alexandre Chausson, Pam Berry, Cécile A. J. Girardin, Alison Smith and Beth Turner and their paper "Understanding the value and limits of nature-based solutions to climate change and other global challenges" published in January 2020. In their work they propose a systems-thinking framework to better understanding and implementing nature-based solutions. Economic, political, social, and ecosystem research must all be considered in order to understand the complexities and costs of incorporating nature-based solutions. This paper applies that thinking to tourism locally and globally. It argues that more consistent systemic approaches to developing visitor experiences are needed to protect ecosystems and mitigate climate change.
Tropology of the Imaginary Left in Lithuanian Alt-right Discourse View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Karolis Jonutis
In Lithuania alt-right political discourse there is an emerging tendency to describe left wing (or everything that alt-right understands as a left wing) in derogatory manner, hereby exposing “it’s true ideological meaning” like Liberal Marxism, Cultural Marxism, Euro Communism and etc. The aim of this presentation is to show scenarios of how this imaginary enemy is constructed. The theoretical model of the research is based on the combination of Erving Goffman’s frame analysis and Ernesto Laclau’s discourse analysis, while the distinction of Left and Right is conceptualized using analysis of Norberto Bobbio’s theory. The material for the research was taken from Lithuanian alt-right internet portals. The result is various categories and sub-categories of the attributes ascribed to the left-wing, ranging from ideological characteristics (genderism, neomarxism…) to personal ones like greed or Soviet nostalgia. These articulated discourse elements then form certain distinct scenarios depending on the context or issue.
