Youth tourism? Traveling in the biographies of young people of popular neighborhoods of Buenos Aires

Abstract In this article, I present results of my doctoral thesis whose general objective is to analyze the experiences of young people from Buenos Aires' popular neighborhoods, investigating the articulation between mobilities and corporalities in their individuation processes. A qualitative approach was used, following grounded theory procedures. Semi-structured interviews, biographical focus, and participant observation were conducted in a social organization that offers free circus workshops to young people from popular neighborhoods. Research has begun to examine youth tourism, highlighting the increase of young travelers and tourist centers created around them. However, the possibilities of traveling and ‘vacation’ differ between different social groups. Its approach becomes a way of recognizing inequalities. This paper identifies the characteristics of the trips present in the biographies of interviewed young people, the way they perceived those trips, the meanings around them, as well as the enabling and limiting factors for undertaking them. By analyzing the narratives, it is possible to distinguish three types of trips: those made possible and motivated by family bonds, those proposed by religious groups settled down in the city’s popular neighborhoods for survival in nature, and those projected to future, as a desire of potential mobility.

摘要 本文呈现了本人博士学位论文的研究成果。该论文的总体目标是分析布宜诺斯艾利斯平民社区青年的生活体验，探究其个体化进程中流动与具身性的关联。本研究采用质性研究方法，遵循扎根理论（Grounded Theory）程序，在一家面向平民社区青年提供免费马戏工作坊的社会组织中，采用半结构化访谈、传记式聚焦方法与参与式观察法开展研究。
已有研究开始关注青年旅游议题，指出青年旅行者群体规模持续扩张，围绕该群体衍生出各类旅游服务载体。但不同社会群体在旅行与“度假”的可行空间上存在显著差异，该研究视角亦成为揭示社会不平等的重要路径。本文梳理了受访青年人生叙事中所涉及的旅行的特征、青年对这些旅行的感知与相关意义内涵，以及开展此类旅行的促进与制约因素。通过对叙事文本的分析，本研究可区分出三类旅行：一是依托家庭纽带实现、并受家庭联结驱动的旅行；二是由定居于该市平民社区的宗教团体发起的、以野外生存体验为主题的旅行；三是面向未来的、作为潜在流动意愿体现的旅行。