ABSTRACT
Post-Second World War optimism at the possibility of social and economic transformation through development has been replaced by a pessimism with development thus constituted. This chapter focuses on the relationship between community and the Earth, with the aim of promoting a sustainable relationship between people and nature. The new politics of the community draw heavily on neopopulism. Neopopulism refers to a rhetorical emphasis on the people rather than the state or big business. The reworking and redefinition of development away from macroeconomic transformation through economic growth and better use of modern technology towards a localised focus on wellbeing. Volunteer tourism suggests wellbeing rather than development. This might initially seem to invalidate looking at volunteer tourism's relationship to development. To illustrate the nature and influence of the new development politics, and how they set the scene for volunteer tourism, it is worth looking further at the ideas of Robert Chambers.
