[ecrea] New issue of Hospitality & Society on CouchSurfing available from Intellect

Issue 1.3 of /Hospitality & Society/ -- a special issue on CouchSurfing 
 -- is now available from Intellect.

With millions of members in over 230 countries worldwide, the website 
CouchSurfing.org -- and many others like it -- match cash-strapped 
globe-trotters to ordinary people with a sofa to spare. This issue of 
/Hospitality & Society/ explores the thought-provoking debates 
surrounding this worldwide travel phenomenon and the questions it raises 
about the changing nature of hospitality in an age dominated by social 
media. Looking to the popular CouchSurfing motto 'It's not just about 
the furniture!', Jennie Germann Molz's editorial opens with an 
examination of what makes this movement such a compelling subject for 
research, as well as leading discussion on the changing sociological and 
cultural significance of hospitality.

Such cultural clashes are at the heart of Sonja Buchberger and De-Jung 
Chen's respective studies of CouchSurfing in Morocco and Taiwan. 
Responding to what is, at present, a predominantly Western narrative of 
the CouchSurfing experience, they offer engaging insights into how the 
phenomenon is practiced and perceived elsewhere in the world, addressing 
issues of equality and reciprocity, particularly in the context of 
differing cultural customs and beliefs. Providing a broader look at the 
trend of CouchSurfing, Vicky Steylaerts and Sean O'Dubhghaill explore 
the idea of it being a more 'authentic' form of travel, examining the 
experience from the unique perspective of the CouchSurfer to see how 
they individualise their adventures.

Meanwhile, Dennis Zuev's intriguing analysis of CouchSurfing in Russia 
celebrates the manner in which hosts and guests come together to gain 
new spatial perspectives on the places they live and visit, championing 
the idea that sharing knowledge in this way promotes an entirely unique 
approach to tourism -- a sentiment at the very centre of the 
CouchSurfing ethos. Paula Bialski goes on to explore the darker side of 
this dynamic relationship between guest and host, showing how, despite 
being based inherently on trust, it can also be exploited by either 
party in order to exert status. Returning to the central theme of social 
media, she also examines how traditional concepts of friendship develop 
differently in the wake of social networking. The issue also features 
reviews of /Hosting the Stranger: Between Religions/; /Politics of the 
Gift: Exchanges in Postructuralism /and /Coffee Culture, Destinations 
and Tourism.
/

*View the full table of contents and abstracts:
*_http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/hosp/2012/00000001/00000003
_
/Hospitality & Society/ is published by Intellect

*Co-editors
*Paul Lynch
University of Strathclyde
_hospitalityandsociety@googlemail.com_

Alison McIntosh
University of Waikato

Jennie Germann Molz
College of the Holy Cross
_jmolz@holycross.edu_

*Editor Emeritus
*Conrad Lashley, Oxford Brookes University

*Controversies and Reviews Editor
*Peter Lugosi, Oxford Brookes University

Subscribe to /Hospitality & Society/ :
_http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=194/view,page=1/
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*Call for Papers
*Hospitality & Society welcomes submissions which explore all aspects of 
hospitality and its connections with wider social and cultural processes 
and structures. For further information, please visit the journal's 
webpage: _http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=194/
_
Hospitality & Society: volume 2, 2012 | 3 issues per year

Best Wishes,

Nicola
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