Religion and Tourism among Globalisation, Capitalism, and Heritage Processes. An Anthropological Perspective

This essay aims at analysing and discussing some theoretical aspects of religious tourism, understood as a specific form of ‘cultural tourism’. The purpose is to demonstrate that religious tourism is not only the meeting point between religion and tourism, but it is also inextricably linked to heritage processes. This thesis is supported by the anthropological approach, which, investigating phenomena not as isolated and distinct categories but following a holistic way, allows us to consider both as social total facts. The contribution is based on theoretical references that aim to situate religion and tourism in the spheres of human mobility, globalisation, capitalism, and heritage processes. These constructs are accompanied by concrete examples, albeit presented concisely, through ethnographic material drawn from my fieldwork between Italy and Tunisia, and quick references to case studies of the anthropological literature inherent to the Mediterranean context.