1st Edition

Cruising in the Global Economy Profits, Pleasure and Work at Sea

By Christine B.N. Chin Copyright 2008

    The business of cruise tourism in recent years has commanded news media attention especially on issues of environmental pollution, passenger safety and worker rights, yet consumer interest in cruise vacations has not been adversely affected by negative publicity and it continues to grow at an average of 8-9% per annum. This unique mode of business focusing on the production and consumption of pleasure at sea and on land offers us an unprecedented opportunity to analyze the manner in which ongoing economic restructuring processes to bring about free markets in goods, services and labour can and does involve both life on land and at sea. This interdisciplinary analysis elicits an examination of states' relationship to the maritime regulatory structure governing ship ownership, management and operations, cruise lines' business strategies, development of port communities to capture cruise-related revenue, changing leisure consumption patterns and meanings, and the employment of foreign migrant workers as seafarers.

    Contents: Making the connection: profits, pleasure and work on the open seas; Flag of convenience: sovereignty-for-lease in the maritime world; Floating resorts: political economy of pleasure production; Structured hedonism: consumption of deep ocean pleasure cruising; 'Mini United Nations': foreign migrant labour on cruise ships; Navigating morality in and for the 21st century; Bibliography; Index.

    Biography

    Christine B.N. Chin is Associate Professor of International Relations in the School of International Service, American University, USA.

    'This is the sort of book that makes you immediately think of all the courses you could use it in - International Political Economy, Global Studies, Labor Studies, Gender and Migration. Christine Chin's innovative exploration of the big cruise ship companies and their "flags of convenience" and gendered, racialized labor practices insures we'll never look at one of those cruising behemouths in the same way again. ' Cynthia Enloe, Clark University, USA 'Cruising in the Global Economy is an interesting and thought provoking addition to the limited literature available that addresses the Cruise Industry. Christine Chin's study comes from her interest in political economy of transnational migration and she uses that knowledge and understanding to good effect to examine the complex realities that underpin the cruise phenomena.' Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice '...a wide-ranging, illuminating account of the multibillion dollar global cruise tourism industry...Cruising in the Global Economy is an important and valuable contribution...It is the most extended, astute and stimulating analysis of the cruise ship industry to date, and a measured and open-ended analysis of the pervasive global challenges of the free market.' The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology '...a valuable addition to any academic tourism library.' The Tourism Society