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

Wed May 30 15:08:02 GMT 2012




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.
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*View the full table of contents and abstracts:
*_http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/hosp/2012/00000001/00000003
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/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/
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Hospitality & Society: volume 2, 2012 | 3 issues per year

Best Wishes,

Nicola
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Nicola Reisner  |  Journals Marketing

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