Anita Gonzalez, "Shipping Out: Race, Performance, and Labor at Sea" (U Michigan Press, 2025)

Anita Gonzalez, a professor of Performing Arts and Black Studies at Georgetown University, discusses her book, *Shipping Out, Race, Performance and Labor at Sea*, which examines the performance of race and labor on cruise ships, both historically and in the present. The conversation explores how cruise ships create encapsulated spaces where passengers and crew perform roles related to servitude and elitism. Gonzalez traces consistent threads of labor practices back to 19th-century packet ships, highlighting how ships themselves become sites of cultural exchange. She also analyzes sea shanties as work songs that communicate the experiences and perspectives of working-class individuals at sea, noting how their meaning shifts when performed in contemporary contexts. Finally, the orchestrated nature of cruise ship ports and their role in shaping passenger experiences are examined.