EXPERIENCE ECONOMY
Five-Star Poverty Clara Bates
F
or most, the idea of vacation evokes images of beaches, famous landmarks, or museums in exotic locations. For the approximately one million people each year who opt to partake in ‘slum tourism’ — a practice which involves travelling to an area of extreme poverty — the idea of vacation takes on an entirely new meaning. Although slum tourism first gained attention in the ’90s, the practice originated in 19th-century London. Upper-class residents temporarily abandoned their high-brow lifestyles in
West London to don plain clothing and ride midnight buses to the impoverished, overcrowded East End. Some were reformers, though many others just liked to gawk at the poor. An 1884 New York Times article entitled “Slumming in this Town: A Fashionable London Mania Reaches New York” chronicles the spread of the phenomenon from London to the United States, dubbing slum tourism an act of “sightseeing.” The article also pronounces “slumming parties to be the rage this winter,” predicting a surge in destination-visits to slums in Harlem.
SPRING 2018 HARVARD POLITICAL REVIEW 3
