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Apologies for Cross-Listing. Spaces still available... CALL FOR CONFERENCE PAPERS: I have organized two sessions at the upcoming Canadian Association of Geographers meeting (May 30th to June 4th, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON), on labour practices/relations in the tourism/travel/recreation industries. I welcome anyone who is interested in contributing to such a theme to contact me ([log in to unmask]) ASAP (I wouldn't need an abstract until February 15th). I am looking for a wide range of papers, with the hope, nevertheless, that each will develop a critical perspective on the issue. Thank you. Here's a bit more detail: My interest in organising a session or two stems from my own several year project titled "Portering Relations and Transcultural Interaction in Northern Pakistan", in which we (three of us) are investigating the genealogy of "human transport" in the Karakoram mountain region of Northern Pakistan from its roots in colonial uses of forced and "free" labour for exploration and administration, to its current central position (and reproduction of colonial discourses and practices) in a regional adventure tourism economy. Much of our fieldwork focuses on the specifics of (the spatiality of) interaction between local porters and Western tourists, and especially on the ways that porters attempt to resist - materially and representationally - the practices and discourses that continue to downpress them. I this case global capitalism, colonial discourse, and discourses of tourist entitlement related to notions of travel, leisure, recreation, value-for-money, naturalised race, etc. interact in ways that perpetuate highly exploitative labour relations (despite the fact that, as the apologists say, portering is one of the fastest ways for - a few - local men to earn some money). Some of this seems to resonate with the less "exotic" circumstances of airline telephone operators, casino workers, Philipino cruise boat crew members, Disneyworld employees... I think a varied set of papers that critically explores what I would describe as the interesting and fraught relationships between discursive practices of labour and discursive practices of tourism/travel, might be instructive and provocative. Sincerely, David Butz %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%