Lead us through temptation: Thomas Cook, pastoral governance and the consumption of tourism

This dissertation examines the case of Thomas Cook, the famous Victorian travel agent. Organised tourism was, as envisioned and implemented by Cook, to be an effective form of pastoral governance that would instill a responsible yet desiring form of consumer subjectivity. Unfortunately, the conceptualisation of consumption has been polarised from on one hand, consumption as a form of manipulation and exploitation or on the other hand, consumption as the ultimate in freedom and self-realisation.;The theoretical foundation of this dissertation is based on Michel Foucault's notion of governance that elides and collapses this polarised division between manipulation and domination and liberty and freedom. But Foucault and other theorists of governance seriously neglect the complex process of convincing, inducing and luring people into consuming, travelling and ideally developing a subjectivity that was responsible yet open to the seductions of the commodity. This work seeks to rectify this deficiency by examining the case of Thomas Cook and how he employed various tools of seduction and inducement to get consumers to consume his tours. In order for Cook to convince potential clients that they could now travel but also would want to, he had to develop a system that made travel easier, safer and more affordable. Only once Cook had tamed and refined travel, could the more grander powers of travel occur like education, women's responsible consumption, increased sociality and a closer sense of nation and international fellowship.;Effectively, Cook had to tame the more distracting elements of travel while at the same time harness and cultivate the more subjectivating qualities of travel: getting away from home and friends; escaping peer pressure and drudgery of everyday life; exploring different cultures, environments and peoples; and finally working on one's own self and subjectivity. The case of Cook as analysed in this dissertation provides a more thorough and nuanced understanding of the relationship between travel, consumption and governance.