Unsettled? Kendra E. Fortin, Bryan S. R. Grimwood, Corey W. Johnson, Jennifer Holman, Helle C. Haven Petersen, Victor Mawutor Agbo, Peggy Vacalopoulos, ‘Divinity and unsettling tourism memories’, Leisure, 2026 | settler colonial studies blog

Unsettled? Kendra E. Fortin, Bryan S. R. Grimwood, Corey W. Johnson, Jennifer Holman, Helle C. Haven Petersen, Victor Mawutor Agbo, Peggy Vacalopoulos, ‘Divinity and unsettling tourism memories’, Leisure, 2026

24Jun26

Abstract: In this article, we examine intersections of tourism, settler colonialism, and Christianity through a collaborative, unsettling approach. Framed by settler colonial theory and postcolonial theology, and drawing on collective memory work involving Settler-Christian graduate students in Canada, we illuminate how religious travel experiences are constructed in relation to settler colonialism. More specifically, our article interrogates Settler-Christian travel memories to reveal a discourse of divinity structured by contested meanings of service, land, evangelism, and material religiosity. In foregrounding memory as method and site of inquiry, we critically analyze religious tourism as a space for unsettling Settler identity, negotiating responsibilities, and reflecting on theological complicities. The participatory methodology encourages critical self-location and co-creation of knowledge, highlighting the transformative potential of collaborative research in confronting settler colonialism within faith-based leisure travel. The research extends critical tourism scholarship by illuminating ethical and spiritually situated responsibilities that Settler-Christians grapple with to envision decolonial futures.

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