Ports of Pleasure, Havens of Harm: the Colonial Exploitation Behind Royal Caribbean's Amusement Empire
Author
Platkowski, Karol Piotr
Term
4. semester
Education
Publication year
2025
Submitted on
2025-02-01
Pages
57
Abstract
This thesis examines how the cruise industry—using Royal Caribbean as a case study—operationalizes colonial logics and practices as a profit model by managing systems of mobility and immobility. Drawing on Gloria Wekker’s concept of the cultural archive, the study constructs a modern “colonial archive” of contemporary materials and combines it with Stuart Hall’s theory of representation and Carlo Ginzburg’s evidential paradigm to identify colonial narratives and traces. The core research questions are: to what extent can Royal Caribbean’s business be conceptualized as colonialism, and what role does human movement and stasis play within this system? Framed by a colonialism‑capitalism‑mobility nexus and engaging the idea of a civilizing mission, the analysis finds that Royal Caribbean’s profits rely on colonial logics, practices, and imaginaries that enable economic control and exploitation of passengers, “imported” labor, and racialized local populations; these dynamics are obscured and legitimized through humanitarian and development narratives. The study contributes an emancipatory, critical perspective on cruise tourism and offers a novel application of postcolonial theory by reinterpreting Wekker’s cultural archive to show how colonial practices and identities are mobilized for profit.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan krydstogtindustrien – med Royal Caribbean som casestudie – operationaliserer kolonial logik og praksisser som en profitmodel gennem styring af mobilitet og immobilitet. Med udgangspunkt i Gloria Wekkers begreb om det kulturelle arkiv opbygger studiet et moderne “kolonialt arkiv” af samtidige kilder og kombinerer det med Stuart Halls repræsentationsteori og Carlo Ginzburgs evidensparadigme for at identificere koloniale narrativer og tegn. De overordnede forskningsspørgsmål er: I hvilket omfang kan Royal Caribbeans forretning forstås som kolonialisme, og hvilken rolle spiller menneskers bevægelse og fastlåsning heri? Analysen rammesættes af et kolonialisme‑kapitalisme‑mobilitet‑perspektiv og diskuterer også den såkaldte civiliseringsmission. Fundene peger på, at Royal Caribbeans profit afhænger af kolonial logik, praksisser og forestillinger, som muliggør økonomisk udnyttelse og kontrol af både passagerer, “importeret” arbejdskraft og racialiserede lokale befolkninger; dette skjules og legitimeres gennem humanitære og udviklingspolitiske fortællinger. Studiet bidrager med en kritisk, frigørende analyse af krydstogtsektoren og anvender postkolonial teori på en ny måde ved at omfortolke Wekkers kulturelle arkiv for at vise, hvordan koloniale praksisser og identiteter omsættes til forretning.
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Keywords