The self-society duality in volunteer tourism: An analytical framework for the (post-)pandemic era

Volunteer tourism straddles the intersection of two seemingly conflicting nonwork activities: traveling, with largely self-serving aspects, and volunteering, with society-serving aspects. This self-society duality is a defining feature of the practice, which carries moral ambiguities and may undermine the volunteer's moral self-worth. However, little is known about how volunteers account for this duality and maintain their moral self-worth. Exploring volunteers' perceptions of this duality is more important than ever in "the new present" under COVID-19, where a personal quest for pleasure runs counter to public health and the common good, and the self-society duality in volunteer tourism may be intensified. Drawing on pragmatic sociology and in-depth in-terviews with volunteer tourists, this article shows that volunteer tourists comprise narratives that intertwine the self-serving aspects of volunteering and multiple beliefs about the common good. Through these narratives, interviewees move between self-serving and society-serving aspects, overcome moral ambiguity, and deem themselves as living up to moral standards. The different elements that comprise the interviewees' narratives reveal a narrative form about moral good particular to tourism. Highlighting these elements, this article proposes an analytical framework through which volunteer tourists' moral views and the relation between self-serving and society-serving in volunteer tourism can be explored.