A modern day panopticon: Using power and control theory to manage volunteer tourists in Bolivia Jamie Thompson a , Ross Curran b, ⁎, Kevin D O'Gorman a a School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK b Dundee Business School, University of Abertay, Dundee, UK abstract article info Article history: Received 9 December 2016 Received in revised form 3 January 2017 Accepted 6 January 2017 Available online xxxx Volunteer tourism literature is yet to examine the impact of power and control practices on volunteer tourist compliancy. This paper contributes to closing this research gap by proposing and testing a new theoretical model of power and control practices. Drawing upon the previously un-synthesized theoretical contributions of Foucault (1979) and French and Raven (1959), the model presents power and control practices identified in the extant organizational literature. Using an auto-ethnographic approach, data was collected within a Bolivian volunteer-host community. Examination of results suggested mutually beneficial volunteer-host working rela- tionships occur under ‘softer’ management practices. Our findings also offer insight into the salience of using re- ward-based management strategies as a control mechanism, as well as identifying two new control practices that emerged empirically. The research suggests several implications for the management of host communities to- ward creating more harmonious, efficient, and effective working relationships between volunteer tourists and hosts. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Volunteer tourism Power and control Volunteer management Bolivia 1. Introduction Tourists seeking more authentic, rewarding, and worthwhile experi- ences have stimulated continuing development of the volunteer tour- ism sector (Barbieri, Santos, & Katsube, 2012; Otoo & Amuquandoh, 2014). The academic literature has developed in tandem, but is weight- ed toward understanding motivations, method, and wider cultural im- pacts of volunteer tourism, rather than the challenging task of managing the often complex volunteer-host dynamic (Wearing & McGehee, 2013). This research contributes to our limited understanding of how power and control practices inform effective volunteer manage- ment, and their role in eliciting greater levels of volunteer compliancy. Uniquely, volunteer tourism offers volunteers an opportunity to combine leisure, travel, and volunteer work (Barbieri et al., 2012; Tomazos & Butler, 2012), rendering the already complex task of manag- ing volunteers in conventional settings (Curran, Taheri, MacIntosh, & O'Gorman, 2016), even more challenging. This can be attributed to the particular volunteer-host dynamic formed as a result of significant per- sonal investment on behalf of volunteer tourists, coupled with the need for hosts to ensure required tasks are completed, and volunteers con- tribute appropriately to projects that depend upon physical and emo- tionally demanding work (Alexander, 2012; Barbieri et al., 2012). Consequently, sustaining mutually beneficial volunteer-host relationships for the duration of a volunteers placement is a complex, potentially frictional process, aggravated through the inequality of the specific dynamics found within a volunteer tourism context (Terry, 2014; Tomazos & Butler, 2012). Failure to manage these relationships successfully can result in noncompliance of volunteers, and negative consequences for volunteer tourists, managers, and the prospective beneficiaries of planned projects (Barbieri et al., 2012; Sin, 2009; Tomazos & Butler, 2012). Thus necessitating further investigation ex- ploring volunteer tourist host dynamics and the applicability of power and control theory. Power and control (French & Raven, 1959) explores superior-subor- dinate relationships and identifies promotion prospects, wage scale, and employment termination as stimulators of compliance (Cadsby, Song, & Tapon, 2007; Choi & Peng, 2014; Deckop, Mangel, & Cirka, 1999; Degiuli & Kollmeyer, 2007; Vázquez, 2006). Separate from French and Raven (1959), Foucault (1979) has contributed to understanding power and control, yet both tracks of literature have yet to be synthesized. Thus this research contributes by expanding knowledge of power and control principles among volunteers (Tomazos & Butler, 2012), to develop more effective and sustainable host community projects (Terry, 2014). Specifically, this is achieved through developing and test- ing a new management framework, bringing together two strands of power and control literature for the first time, within a unique context. The paper is organized as follows: a brief discussion is offered of the pre- vailing volunteer tourism literature, alongwith consideration of the the- oretical underpinnings of power and control. Next, the methodological Tourism Management Perspectives 22 (2017) 34–43 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: r.curran@abertay.ac.uk (R. Curran). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2017.01.003 2211-9736/© 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Tourism Management Perspectives journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp