Anita Gonzalez

Anita Gonzalez, a Professor of performing arts and Black Studies at Georgetown University, explores her book, Shipping Out: Race, Performance, and Labor at Sea. She discusses the layered performances aboard Caribbean cruise ships, linking them to historical maritime labor. Anita highlights how workers navigate identities in microspaces like cafeterias and corridors, and she connects sea shanties to African work songs, emphasizing their role in contemporary culture. She concludes by urging a re-examination of class as performance in the cruise industry.

Anita Gonzalez, a Professor of Performing Arts and Black Studies at Georgetown University, engages in a fascinating discussion about her book, which unveils the hidden dynamics of cruise ship labor through the lenses of race, class, and gender. She shares insights on her experiences as a destination lecturer and how cruise performances often mask the workers' reality. Gonzalez traces historical parallels between 19th-century labor and modern cruise crews, emphasizing the complexities of identity and performance in this orchestrated environment.