Pre-Submission Final Oral Presentation by Roshis Shrestha
Date and time: 2:00pm-4:00pm (Canberra time), Wednesday 19 July
Location: RSM Seminar Room 1106, Level 1, Copland Building 24
Chair of the Session: Associate Professor Alessandra Capezio
*Please note: This presentation will be run hybrid with associate supervisor joining via Zoom.
Indigenous Wisdom Framework: A Staged Approach to Sustainable Collaborative Indigenous Tourism
Introduction
As evidence of the favourable policies from governments that empower Indigenous peoples, Indigenous tourism has experienced significant growth, especially in countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand. However, scholars and practitioners are still decrying the perpetuation of misrepresentations of Indigenous peoples, blaming weak institutional frameworks that are geared more towards satisfying the “assumed” needs and expectations of tourists who apparently are looking to be involved in more meaningful interactions with local Indigenous communities. Koot (2016) argues that such an approach becomes problematic because contemporary approaches served little purpose in improving the imageries of Indigenous peoples and fuelled additional sociocultural and economic problems in many Indigenous communities. This has prompted solutions and considerations such as a bottom-up approach to tourism where Indigenous peoples control their narrative and tourism development within the communities. However, the pertinent and fundamental concerns of cultural durability for these Indigenous communities and lingering, if not perduring elitism remain dire realities, which according to Bennike and Nielsen (2023), perpetuate a frontier of inequality.
The apprehension surrounding this multifaceted and multi-stakeholder sector revolves around the ontological incongruity it presents. Tourism is a colonial construct of enormous socioeconomic significance, but still under close scrutiny given the broad variety in its renderings, processes, structures and impacts, which may have a natural hegemonious relationship with the communities where it is rolled out as a panacea to economic woes. Hence, in culturally diverse countries such as Nepal, the predominance of a growth-oriented neoliberal economic approach, particularly in relation to Indigenous communities that prioritise collective consumption, facilitates fundamental issues such as cultural erosion, socio-economic disparities that arise from the clash with diverse mainstream socio-economic superstructures, such as bureaucracies and government. Thus, Indigenous communities, particularly the ones with weaker social representations, are often silenced by prescribed policies and actions that create a disconnect with traditional Indigenous value systems and which can eventually threaten the very initiatives created to empower these communities (Dolezal & Novelli, 2020). To Blapp and Mitas (2018), the solution lies in collaborative co-creation that can empower Indigenous communities, strengthen their sociocultural resilience, and provide them with opportunities that align with their values and aspirations. Collaborative co-creation departs from the mere consideration of Indigenous voices and instead actively incorporates Indigenous peoples “lived experiences” and traditional knowledges. Though the structural aspect of collaboration has been extensively studied, research on the socio-cognitive processes of multi-stakeholder collaboration within the Indigenous tourism development domain is scant, if not nascent. The research purpose then is to circumscribe Indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledges and socio-cultural values in order to develop a framework for sustainable and collaborative Indigenous tourism that reflects the worldviews, aspirations, and priorities of Indigenous communities. The research question that this thesis seeks to answer is thus:
How can Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies be used to ensure sustainable Indigenous tourism development?
Theoretical Review
This thesis begins with an interdisciplinary systematic review of existing research on sustainable Indigenous tourism. A total of 218 qualitative studies that consider Indigenous peoples’ stories from 52 countries have been considered. While the review uncovered insights on drivers for collaboration within the Indigenous community’s grassroots, including with the community and external stakeholders, it also helped identify several theoretical and methodological gaps, with some specifically relevant to the objectives serving the purpose of this thesis. The objectives of this thesis are:
- To critically examine and integrate existing scholarship on multi-stakeholder co-creation encompassing social conflict theory and value co-creation.
- To design and implement a decolonial Indigenous method to examine the traditional knowledges and socio-cultural values that provide a theoretical basis for sustainable and collaborative Indigenous tourism.
- To explore and analyse current Indigenous practices inherent in their traditional cultural and economic crucible to gain greater insight into Indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledges and socio-cultural values in order to propose an Indigenous framework for the development of collaborative and values-based tourism at Indigenous Newars’ grassroots.
When juxtaposed with the research objectives, the review also highlighted the relevance of existing research on Social Conflict Theory and value co-creation. For instance, Trischler and Scott (2016) argue that, in a networked context, co-creation is not simply determined by the network but by the intricate stakeholder interactions. Co-creation can be a conscious or unconscious process. Unconscious co-creation follows dominant, often contradictory, formal and informal institutional arrangements inherent in Indigenous peoples’ adapted decisions and behaviours (Rossi & Tuurnas, 2021). Unconscious in-group and out-group co-creation can be construed as an adaptive preference formed through internalising power hierarchies within the community. On this note, existing studies lament the lack of research on the role of power and value-based conflict in co-creation in Indigenous tourism.
Methodology
By the very nature of the research question, this thesis espouses a social constructivism ontology with a philosophical position that assumes that there are multiple realities, and that “agents can willingly create their own realities so long as they regard them as real” (Ramoglou & Tsang, 2016, p. 413). The epistemological perspective is Interpretivism, an approach where researchers do not simply locate knowledge but construct them through the interpretation of data that gives full voice to the ethno viewpoint. This epistemological position emphasises the plurality of knowledge and aims to decentralise human knowledge treating all human knowledge similarly (Maffie, 1999). Since I am an Indigenous Newar conducting this study in an Indigenous Newari context, adopting a decolonial Indigenous methodology is natural but also pivotal to the conduct of my research. The decolonial approach does not seek to nullify the impact of colonialism but recognises that coloniality continues to shape the social, political and cultural structures. Decolonial Indigenous methodology emphasises the importance of Indigenous self-determination, community engagement, and the recognition of Indigenous peoples as knowledge holders and experts in their own right. I engaged with Indigenous participants at each research stage, starting from research problematisation to data analysis and findings. Their knowledge and lived experiences are central to the theorisation process.
I used grounded theory as methodological underpinning so I can adopt a decolonial position to my research (Charmaz, 2014). While the grounded theory does not explicitly address colonial aspects, its characteristics and approach allow for considering the Indigenous standpoint and encourage the researcher to provide people with voice and agency. The immersive research engagement it implies, is best provided by an ethnographic method which was informed by an archival research, participant observation, interviews, the go-along conversations, Netnography, co-creative workshop and Khā Lā Bā Lā (an Indigenous Newari approach to focus group discussion). To ensure the quality and reliability of the research, I followed Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) criterion of trustworthiness. Data triangulation in the pursuit of trustworthiness in this research does not pertain to the “fact-finding” mission but rather ensures a thick description of the data collected in consultation with, and consent of the elders. Data analysis follows the coding approach to constructivist grounded theory, and analytical strategies of constant comparison, memo writing, theoretical sampling and theoretical saturation led to the emergence of five themes that form the basis of the findings in this research.
Findings and Discussion
Five themes emerged from the data, and they collectively answer the research question. Several propositions that support the proposed Indigenous Wisdom Framework for sustainable Indigenous tourism development are derived from these themes. The Indigenous Wisdom framework is a staged approach to developing collaborative and values-based tourism that acknowledges and integrates Indigenous ontologies and epistemologies. Through a threestaged consultation with the community elders, the study first locates Indigenous Newars’ sociocultural values and their ontology of relationality that inform their traditional beliefs and behavioural systems. This ontology accentuates the connections among human, natural and metaphysical dimensions from past, present and future. This study finds that while there is a clear overlap with Schwartz’s (1994) sociocultural values, the Indigenous ontological assumptions that underpin these value structures distinguish how these values are perceived. The underlying value structures shape their identity and foster sustainable and collaborative consumption at the grassroots. Indigenous Newars’ sociocultural values also form the basis for promoting community synergy at Guthi, a necessary precondition for the formation of collective consciousness and social capital for collaborative and sustainable Indigenous tourism development
This thesis demonstrates that a strong sense of cohesion and social capital characterises a community with high synergy and consciousness, a combined state that amplifies the potential for co-creative engagement through collective sensemaking that departs from logocentrism and anthropocentrism. The Newars’ responsiveness to environmental dynamism through continuous and iterative engagement in the sensemaking process strengthens their community’s unique superstructure (i.e., social institutions, cultural practices, ecological knowledge and community norms). Superstructure negotiation with internal and external stakeholders follows Indigenous community’s collective sensemaking process, including the negotiation of assumptions and biases, authenticity perception and role (in)congruence within the superstructures of Nepal’s tourism economy. Superstructure negotiation is fundamental for value co-creation that centres around Indigenous self-determination.
Conclusion and Implications
This study draws insights on collaborative practices from Indigenous Newars’ cultural crucible called Guthi and proposes an Indigenous Wisdom Framework with a socio-cognitive approach to community collaboration for sustainable Indigenous tourism development. Findings have methodological, theoretical and practical contributions. First, the insights pertaining to the recognition and negotiation of diverse superstructures for multi-stakeholder co-creation and collaboration is a novel and essential contribution to the social conflict theory and the literature on value co-creation. Second, a significant contribution of this study is its demonstration of the significance of Indigenous Newar's ontology of relationality in fostering community synergy based on unilateral norms of reciprocity. This finding highlights the importance of collective consciousness formation for tourism development. By showcasing the factors that shape unilateral norms of reciprocity inherent in community synergy, this study makes a noteworthy contribution to the existing literature on social conflict theory. Third, this research proposes an Indigenous approach to focus group discussion, identified in this study as the Newari Khā Lā Bā Lā, made possible through the incorporation of Newari sociocultural norms and ontology of relationality, which is the particular decolonising approach to methodology in this thesis. One of the practical implications of this study pertains to the emphasis that economic goals do not supersede justice goals for many Indigenous Newari respondents, and that both should be viewed together. Likewise, the wisdom framework provides novel insights into communitybased tourism initiatives within Indigenous Newar communities that centre on their traditional knowledge and sociocultural value systems.
Future Directions
The context limits this study as it focuses only on the Indigenous Newars Guthi traditions. Historical mustard oil cooperatives of Khokana Newars, also considered one of the world’s oldest operational cooperatives, exemplify the propagation of their ontology of relationality in their approach to collaborative governance. Examining their historical and contemporary governance mechanisms through ethnographic research can help apply, support or enhance the proposed Indigenous Wisdom Framework. Future research can also propose an amendment or upgrade to the theoretical frameworks presented in this thesis through research in different study contexts.
References
- Bennike, R. B., & Nielsen, M. R. (2023). Frontier tourism development and inequality in the Nepal Himalaya. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1080/09669582.2023.2174129
- Charmaz, K. (2014). Constructing Grounded Theory (2 ed.). London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi, Singapore: Sage.
- Koot, S. P. (2016). Contradictions of capitalism in the South African Kalahari: Indigenous Bushmen, their brand and baasskap in tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 24(8-9), 1211-1226.
- Lincoln, Y., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage
Publications. - Maffie, J. (1999). Epistemology in the Face of Strong Sociology of Knowledge. History of the Human Sciences, 12(4), 21-40.
- Ramoglou, S., & Tsang, E. W. (2016). A Realist Perspective of Entrepreneurship: Opportunities As Propensities. Academy of Management Review, 41(3), 410-434.
- Rossi, P., & Tuurnas, S. (2021). Conflicts fostering understanding of value co-creation and service systems transformation in complex public service systems. Public Management Review, 254-275, 254-275.
- Schwartz, S. H. (1994). Are There Universal Aspects in the Structure and Contents of Human
Values? Journal of Social Issues, 50(4), 19-45. - Trischler, J., & Charles, M. (2019). The Application of a Service Ecosystems Lens to Public Policy Analysis and Design: Exploring the Frontiers. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 38(1), 19–35
View Roshis Shrestha's bio here.