"The Tourism Archive as Infrastructure"

Talk Description and Guidelines

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The assigned video this week is from a recent talk given by Prof. Córdoba (UCSD Dept. of Communications) on their preliminary research project focusing on tourism and the Tren Maya. in this conversation Prof. Córdoba looks at tourism as a leading variable in the production of history. She presents the concept of the "tourism archive" as a main intellectual and economic infrastructure for the reproduction of a non-disruptive (e.g. passive, traditional, and noble) Mayaness for the future of the region and country. Córdoba questions the emergent ways in which this Mayanness is being designed within the practices of a global network of philanthropic capitalists as they invest in architecture, infrastructure development, landscape construction and marketable Indigenous products. She looks at these questions in the state of Yucatán, Mexico, a context deeply pressed by the developmental promises of Train Maya, also known as Tren de la Muerte (the train of death).

This talk will substitute your asynchronous lecture videos this week. Prof. Córdoba designed the presentation to include lecture slides, so you all could learn about the project. As you watch the video, I recommend occasionally pausing the video take notes on some of the key concepts or ideas discussed that interest you most.

Key things to look for/take away for our discussion this week:

"Tourist Archive" (as a conceptual tool, try to outline a "working definition" of your own by discussing what this refers to as well as what kinds of power dynamics it makes visible)
"Ser camaleón" (being a chameleon)
"Non-disruptive Mayaness" (if you were to describe this as a "discursive formation," what collection of images and ways of taking about Maya does this represent? What gets left out?)
The historical construction of "non-disruptive Mayaness" through archeology and tourism (how was this produced over time? by whom? what has been produced as a result?)
How does the "Tourist archive" connect to architecture, infrastructure, and development in the region? How does it connect to militarization?

Recommended reading for any of you interested in learning more about the Tren Maya (see "recommended tab" for other topics on Indigenous movements in Latin America)