The Purposes of Paradise: U.S. Tourism and Empire in Cuba and Hawai'i

by Christine Skwiot

For half a century, the United States has treated Cuba and Hawai'i as polar despised nation and beloved state. But for more than a century before the Cuban revolution and Hawaiian statehood of 1959, Cuba and Hawai'i figured as twin objects of U.S. imperial desire and as possessions whose tropical island locales might support all manner of fantasy fulfillment—cultural, financial, and geopolitical. Using travel and tourism as sites where the pleasures of imperialism met the politics of empire, Christine Skwiot untangles the histories of Cuba and Hawai'i as integral parts of the Union and keys to U.S. global power, as occupied territories with violent pasts, and as fantasy islands ripe with seduction and reward. Grounded in a wide array of primary materials that range from government sources and tourist industry records to promotional items and travel narratives, The Purposes of Paradise explores the ways travel and tourism shaped U.S. imperialism in Cuba and Hawai'i. More broadly, Skwiot's comparative approach underscores continuity, as well as change, in U.S. imperial thought and practice across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Comparing the relationships of Cuba and Hawai'i with the United States, Skwiot argues, offers a way to revisit assumptions about formal versus informal empire, territorial versus commercial imperialism, and direct versus indirect rule.

Genres: History

296 pages, Hardcover

First published July 16, 2010

Reviews

[Michael Connor]

Skwiot argues that Cuba and Hawai'i were treated as "imperial twins" by the U.S. from 1898 to 1959. Tourism was a key tool, used to legitimize conquest by framing the islands as "resorts" needing U.S. rule to reach their potential. The goal of creating white republics failed, leading to a shift toward exploiting non-white "exotic ambiences" for elite tourism.

[Cordellya Smith]

The differences between how Cuba and Hawai'i were presented to tourists is amazing. This book makes me feel bad for Cuba.

[Blake]

Good contrasting views on tourism industry and our attempts at colonizing Cuba and Hawaii from the early 1800's to mid 1900's. Read it for a research project, not sure if the general pleasure reader would enjoy it.