A review of the “Tourism- Environmental Conflict Signifier” logic as constructed by the Kenyan press in coverage of environmental conflicts.

Abstract

most vocalized environmental conflicts have occurred within situational contexts of tourism communities. However, the marked insignificance of environmental issues in determining conflicts makes it imperative to question how the Kenyan press covers this subject with specific reference to tourism. This analysis is guided by the assumption that interpretations of environmental conflicts should not be solely concerned with the key driving factors, but should also factor in the interplay of local and extra-local, social and ecological contexts. With a focus on biodiversity rows, our paper explores the issue of how the Kenyan press decenters the idea of environmental conflict to tourism, and accordingly equates tourism to a signifier of environmental conflicts. Research questions explore the (in)consistency of tourism associations to environmental conflict discourse, as well as the unarticulated issues when tourism is a master signifier of environmental conflicts. Study findings reveal that the relational angle of tourism development to environmental conflicts is a problematic one, positioning tourism as a causative factor in defining related conflicts. The paper additionally notes that in reporting biodiversity conflict, the Kenyan press legitimizes a position of human dominance over nature, through symbolic content in textual devices that tend toward egocentrism and render invisible the extra-human perspective. It does so in self-serving patterns to conceal traces of fatalities and harm to non-humans and nature. The authors recommend a way forward to achieve a balanced representation of stories from both the human and non-human sides in press reports on biodiversity conflicts. Keywords: tourism, environmental conflict, biodiversity, signifier,