Comments on: Riot Tourism on the Rise: 2009’s Best International Hotbeds of Anarchy & Dissent

By: darla

darla — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:31:05 +0000

have you actually even been to colombia in order to suggest that ‘In Colombia, government forces clash with dissidents regularly, and the radical arts scene developing in Bogota is truly something to take in’???
if you had you would know by now that this are very rare cases and not things that happen regularly,this are most likely to happen in a very hippie university where they basically protest about pretty much everything from the government to the bus tickets price, so please get your facts straight before worsening the already terrible reputation we have,thanks

By: Jamaica My Way

Jamaica My Way — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 01:27:05 +0000

I’ve never heard of anything like this but I have to say that if I wasn’t a single parent and need to return home to my son all the time, I’d be up for exploring this.

I regularly travel to Jamaica which is as politically corrupt as I can handle and even though I love that island to death, the sheer volume of things that need advocates and activists there, boggles my brain.

Wicked article though. Loved it.

By: Jesse Cooper

Jesse Cooper — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:54:16 +0000

Rob

I completely understand, and I’m glad that for the most part, it seems the terminology may have been the only problem you had on the article. I (nor did anyone on this blog) didn’t coin the phrase “riot tourism” at all, but in fact got it from the Center For Strategic Anarchy (link is in the article) which I believe was referencing the idea to traveling to Italy in the coming months for some major summits and anti-CPE style protests. I hold them as a pretty good authority, and considered the phrase to be relatively clever and used it in this frame for what I assume is a somewhat “uninitiated” audience in terms of radical politics.

Sorry if I had offended you, but I hope that clears some things up.

By: rob

rob — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:42:18 +0000

Jesse
I believe your heart is in the right place, but like I said, you are doing others like you , who travel to oppose the state, no favors, including myself. If i care enough to drive for 3 days to protest something, I sure don’t want to be labeled a tourist by someone who is supposed to be on my side… so they can make money off of it. What you are writing denigrates us, please consider what you write.

By: Jesse Cooper

Jesse Cooper — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:42:56 +0000

@Rob

Whoa, whoa, whoa man. As someone who has traveled because of my “serious concerns” about compelling issues, I understand that an insurrectionist needs to be where the insurrection is. Like it or not, and I speak from experience, there are a lot of people who travel specifically to confront the State, and I would imagine it is something of a cottage industry; as ironic as that is.

Vagabondish, as you can see by the “non-violent” disclaimer up top, is not my blog. This isn’t the arena to be exploring the socioeconomic motivations for every theater of resistance on the planet, this is a zine about unconventional traveling.

Quite frankly, the shit is hitting the fan in case you haven’t noticed. Hopefully, some people would want to know where, perhaps to progress things for a better world or to tell the stories that aren’t ever even reported by the corporate media in the first place. I’m less than pleased of your skewed perception of my intentions, but I’d hope you’d understand the audience I’m writing to.

Thanks for reading anyway.

By: Rob

Rob — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:13:45 +0000

This article is right out of the Fox News playbook. It is unfortunate that this young author, probably without the acumen to even realizing he is doing so, delegitimizes and minimizes the serious concerns and issues that would compel someone to travel to a protest. By labeling protesters as “riot tourists” he paints them as shallow youth looking for kicks and feeds into the perceptions so carefully cultivated by the corporate media. People who are serious about these very important issues do not want to be denigrated as tourists by some kid who is not even bright enough to know he is doing so. On the bright side, he has a great future as a mainstream journalist.

By: Gennaro

Gennaro — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:59:56 +0000

I experience civil unrest in San Sebastian a few years ago. ETA set fired to a few big garbage canisters in the middle of a street along with tying a banner across a major roadway.

It immediately catches your attention. Best to leave the crowd right after. It hard because it’s so interesting, but anything can happen though that situation quickly calmed.

By: craig

craig — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 01:09:53 +0000

Europe’s governments are trembling. Revolt is in the air.

http://www.theage.com.au/world.....ml?page=-1

By: Riot Tourism, Travel Picnic & World’s Best Hotels | Venere Travel Blog

Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:35:14 +0000

[...] Vagabondish publishes an article by Jesse Cooper on 2009’s best travel destinations for riot tourism. [...]

By: Marion

Marion — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:18:39 +0000

Interesting travel blog post and controversial topic. I have never heard about “riot tourism” before and I’m wondering what kind of people – except journalists/writers and policitians – would travel just to see a riot.