Paradise in Peril: Exploring the Relationship Between Tourism, Culture and Social Discrimination in Hawaiʻi

5 Introduction The Hawaiʻi Islands are known around the world as an idyllic place. Many people choose the Aloha State as the destination for their holidays expecting to enjoy its beautiful landscapes and the relaxed vibes of the local people. What they often ignore, however, is the stream of issues that Hawaiʻi has to face, and that are often caused by tourism. Among these, there is social discrimination against the Native Hawaiians. Ancient Hawaiʻi had a technologically advanced and prosperous society before the progressive colonization by the Westerners started in late 1700s. Native Hawaiians lived in harmony with nature, taking care of their beloved land and resources under a subsistence cooperative economy. The subsequent arrival of various groups of Westerners then modified the Native community, introducing new values and aiming to erode the local ones. The settler colonialism put in act by the United States sought to denationalize the Natives and completely cancel their identity. New flows of migrants also came from Europe and Asia, making Hawaiʻi the multiethnic hub it is today and turning the Native ethnic group into a minority. Another turning point in the deterioration of Hawaiian culture was the explosion of mass tourism in the 1900s. Media, advertisement, and commodification of culture began to spread all over the world a stereotyped and unauthentic version of the Islands with the purpose of attracting the highest number of visitors. The social stratification and systemic discrimination started with colonization were furtherly enhanced by the tourism industry, which objectified Hawaiians and their culture for marketing purposes. Today many Hawaiians work for the same industry that has been disrupting their identity over the last decades, while the effects of discrimination towards the Natives are to be found in their socioeconomic disparity, low incomes, lack of housing opportunities, and bad health and mental conditions. More recent developments in the international realm and in the field of tourism, though, seem to bring hope. The new tendency towards sustainable development and sustainable tourism are indeed leading towards a better future for discriminated peoples, longing not to only an environmentally friendly progress, but also to local communities enhancement and empowerment objectives. The present paper seeks to provide an overview of the social situation Hawaiʻi lived in the past and is living in the present, and the more recent developments witnessed within the tourism industry. To get a better understanding of the precedents leading to the current situation, the composition starts with an historical account of the Hawaiʻi Islands, from its first settlements to the American annexation. Then, moving towards the social theme at stake, an analysis of what is meant by social discrimination from the point of view of Social Psychology is provided. The following section contextualizes the theory of social discrimination to Hawaiʻi, explaining the effects of