Books / dark tourism
Stanfords host discussion with expert criminologists on their new ‘dark tourism’ book
The rapidly growing and controversial trend of so-called ‘dark tourism’ now equates to a multi-million-pound global industry.
Despite the economic benefits, there is also the potential for inflicting serious social harm on the communities that find themselves at the centre of these criminal hot-spots.
50 Dark Destinations: Crime and Contemporary Tourism is a new book published by the University of Bristol’s Policy Press that brings together a wealth of essays written about these crime tourism locations, across six continents.
is needed now More than ever
The editors are Adam Lynes, senior lecturer in Criminology and Craig Kelly, lecturer in Criminology – both at Birmingham City University, alongside James Treadwell, professor in Criminology at Staffordshire University.
Dark tourism map – image: Policy Press
All three will be in conversation at Stanfords Bristol on March 20 to discuss the chilling trend laid bare in the book, and why so many people are drawn towards it.
Chapters include Cocaine Bear, in Kentucky, USA – which is also the subject of a new film – the Choeung Ek killing field in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, The Kray twins tours in London, trophy hunting in sub-Saharan Africa, and Pitcairn Island in the Pacific.
“It is time to question why we spend our days in museums filled with artefacts of violence,” say Lynes, Kelly and Treadwell; “why we engage in leisure pursuits that damage the natural environment; why social media is filled with images of people smiling while standing at the sides of a past genocide.”
50 Dark Destinations: Crime and Contemporary Tourism is at Stanfords Bristol on March 20 at 6.30pm. Tickets are available via www.eventbrite.co.uk. The book is available to pre-order from Policy Press now.
Main photo: Policy Press
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