Responsible tourism as an agent of sustainable and socially-conscious development: reflections from the Italian case

The paper focus on the study of tourism as a predominant field of research for understanding contemporary society and the new social hierarchies that distinguish it. Tourism, which is increasingly seen as a process that has become integral to social and cultural life, also plays an essential role in the social and spatial dialectic that gives meaning to the places. Focusing tourism through the lens of "productive consumption" developed by Cultural Studies, the paper moves from the assumption that responsible tourism can be analyzed in the broader paradigm of relational goods to explore the role of responsible tourism as a possible way of sustainable and responsible development. Particular attention is dedicated to the analysis of Italian policies and practices.