旅游非正规就业者污名化研究

Stigmatization of Informal Tourism Employees

旅游非正规就业者对旅游经济作出了很大贡献,但公众对该群体存在一定程度的负面认知。文章以广东海陵岛为案例,从污名化的视角研究公众对旅游非正规就业者的认知及该群体的应对策略。公众认知方面,总结了游客、居民、正规就业者和政府工作人员等对旅游非正规就业者的污名化叙事及演变。研究发现,旅游非正规就业者在公众污名的压力下,并没有带来"高自我污名",而是形成了一种"低污名、高自尊"的状态。针对这一现象,文章从个体和群体两个方面,分析了非正规就业者应对污名的策略,提出"个体-情境"解释框架。研究认为,在该框架下,非正规就业者不仅具有了生存技能、应对危机的能力,也能够适应旅游经济规律,掌握应对政府运动式治理的技巧,拥有了选择能力和对抗公众污名能力,保持了相对积极的状态。

Informal tourism employment has contributed significantly to the tourism economy;however,local prejudice and discrimination against this group of employees are still prevalent.Applying a case study approach,this investigation examined local perceptions toward informal tourism employees and the coping strategies those employees adopted in the face of such stigmatization.The present author has continuously observed the development of informal employment on Hailing Island since 2009.To assess negative evaluations of informal employees by local residents as well as the position,feelings,and relationship with those residents on the part of informal employees when facing stigmatization,the author conducted three field surveys in 2009,2012,and 2016.The paper collected 50 valid responses from interviewees,which basically covered all types of informal employment on Hailing Island.This paper classified the collected narratives of stigmatization into five main categories,12 subcategories,and 22 indicators.The following findings emerged with regard to informal employees.(1)Both the interviewees’narrative content and the interviewees’emotions during the interviews as perceived by the researchers indicated that the stigmatization identified in this paper was universally felt on the island;the relationship between local residents and informal employees was biased toward a negative evaluation.(2)There were individual and group differences in the evaluation of informal employees by local residents,though some basic patterns emerged.(3)The occupational characteristics and daily behavior were the most frequent areas of stigmatization.(4)A type of regional prejudice existed on the island:locals did not evaluate outsiders highly;the regional prejudice was evident locally.(5)Infectious diseases,psychological stigma,and related characteristics were not,on the whole,significant.(6)The degree of separation between locals and non-locals was notably high;the willingness between the two groups to communicate with each other was low;occasionally,intensified conflicts occurred.This study categorized the stigmatization into five stages:labeling,stereotyping,separation,status loss,and discrimination.From labeling and stereotyping at the early perception level to separation,status loss,and discrimination at the behavior level,the local residents exhibited the entire process of group stigmatization.As a result of local government ordinances,the relationship between residents and informal employees on Hailing Island has fundamentally eased since 2015;the degree of stigmatization has also rapidly decreased.A fairly clear positive correlation became evident between different subjects’cognition of stigmatization against informal employees and the stage of tourism development.In the face of local stigmatization with respect to their physical appearance,behavior,interpersonal relationships,and even imagined illnesses,the informal employees were individually able to achieve self-enhancement through their comparative advantages with respect to their financial position and occupations compared with what they had experience at home.Thus,the employees adopted an attitude of indifference toward the public stigmatization.At the group level,the informal employees regarded the local residents as an extension of their families;that constituted the main social capital of those employees:they developed a secondary social system through closed intra-group communication.Under that system,the employees learned survival skills and the ability to deal with crises;they adapted their skills to the economic rules of tourism and campaign-style governance,which gave them the capability to deal with the public stigmatization.Through these developments at the individual and group levels,the informal employees were able to avoid the negative trend from public stigmatization to self-stigmatization that has been identified in some studies.Instead,the employees were able to remain relatively positive,and they possessed a relatively high sense of identity with their occupation.