Philanthropic Tourism in a Chinese Orphanage

The original goal of philanthropic action is assumed to care for disadvantaged social groups. But in China today philanthropy has been developed as a booming industry that produces commodities, one of which is the objects for tourist consumption. In this course, disadvantaged groups are objectified and instrumentalized that reinforces the power imbalance between them and middle class philanthropists. By describing the sharp inequality between these two groups, this paper attends to argue against the Tocquevillian discourse that connects philanthropy to civil society, and further to liberal democracy