Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the idea of the authentic slum and how it might be utilised in tourism performances. It explores the possibility of an 'affective turn' within tourism studies and proceeds to conceptualise tourist performances as spaces of negotiation wherein capital and affect circulates in relation to each other in affective economies. The book also explores theoretically how slum tourism, as a form of pro-poor tourism, is linked to ideas of humanitarianism. It conceptualises City Walks (CW)-guides as emotional labourers, who ensure the circulation of positive affect within the space of the (CW). The book argues that the relation between slum tourism and volunteerism. In studies of the latter there seems to be a growing apprehension about unequal power relations between actors in the field, which mirrors similar concerns in studies of slum tourism.