Tourism and child beggary: The ambivalence of a vital and strategic relationship. a comparison of bangkok and Mumbai

The image of the interaction between international tourists and local beggars is a strong mark of globalization as it represents a split between two worlds. On one hand, the tourist symbolizes the cosmopolitan establishment that can move effortlessly across geographical boundaries. The other world, represented by the beggar, refers to social exclusion and a monotonous street life (Bauman, 1998). Tourism reconfigures the traditional nature of the begging interaction. Urban begging has often been described as humiliating since the passersby are indifferent towards beggars (Lankenau, 1999a), this situation is referred by Goffman (1963)as a nonperson treatment.  In response, beggars enhance their image by building relationships with bystanders who become a source of social, psychological and financial support (Lankenau, 1999b). The latter situation does not apply to our setting which is not characterized by indifference; it relies on a unique cross-cultural interaction.  More than never begging becomes a scheme that requires expertise, emotional control, identity management and dramatization skills (Lankenau, 1999b) . This research focuses on communities where begging is based on child participation with a view to understand the determinants of child begging, explain the tourists’ perceptions and reveal the impacts on family structure, education, and socialization. I have chosen a cross-cultural approach comparing fields from Bangkok and Mumbai combing ethnography and Grounded Theory. I  consider that Grounded Theory has the potential to lead to better ethnography (Timmermans & Tavory, 2007).  The data collection is based on participant observation conducted over a period of two years, and on a psychometric scale named “begging scale» created in order to measure the stigmatization of beggary. We will demonstrate that the begging encounter is a construction aimed to gain the tourists’ sympathy.  We will describe how the children stage their own identities in order fit in the tourist’s stereotypes on beggars and vulnerable children.