Forum for Young Researchers into Intercultural Dynamics (FJIDI)

Research project

Our research is based on a case study of solidarity tourism in two mountain communities in the high central plains of Madagascar.

For centuries, these mountains, which are considered to be the home of the Malgache spirits, and therefore sacred and protected by numerous laws, have been preserved as places of memory and identity for all the island people. Nevertheless, since 2005, two community associations have began to attract tourists to this still relatively unspoilt region.

Desacralisation of a place, or the process of enhancing the value of its heritage? Could tourism in this case be not only an end, but also a means for reflecting on traditions through the eyes of the Other? Guardian of the tradition and agent of modernity? A happy ending between traditional logics and the demands of development?

The aim of the talk is to present the ethnographic context and categories of analysis of the research study currently in progress.

Fabiola Mancinelli - Predoctoral researcher at the University of Barcelona (UB) and doctorate student in Social and Cultural Anthropology

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>> Information about the FJIDI: ymellado@cidob.org