Description: Securing Paradise analyzes how cultures of U.S. imperialism are produced and sustained in Asia and the Pacific, particularly in Hawaii and the Philippines, by the mutually reinforcing dynamics of tourism and militarism.
Review Quotes: "Highly recommended." --D. J. Timothy, Choice
"[A]n impressive scholarly contribution to transnational U.S. history and American Studies."--Christine Skwiot, Journal of American History "[A] bold and creative argument for understanding the twinned projects of tourism and US militarism in the Pacific as grounded in multiple but always overlapping discourses of security. . . . Undoubtedly, Securing Paradise will become required reading in many fields, from Pacific Islands studies and Asian American studies to indigenous studies, women and gender studies, ethnic studies, and American studies."--Maile Arvin, Contemporary Pacific "Securing Paradise compels readers with its unique and inventive approach to a ground-breaking subject. . . ."--Michael C. Hawkins, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies "Securing Paradise is a significant contribution to the vibrant field of cultural studies of US imperialism. The book constantly reminds readers of the violence that tropical discourse, militarisation and the tourist industry exert on colonised peoples. Perhaps most importantly Gonzalez has written a history of a tenaciously imperial present, which in Hawai?i and the Philippines--as in many other places in the Pacific and the Caribbean--cannot be understood without thinking about the links between militarism and tourism." --Holger Droessler, Journal of Pacific History "Gonzalez has written an important book that makes concrete the lingering affective and material consequences of the U.S. empire's projection of freedom with violence in the twentieth century. It has laid the groundwork for other scholars to examine similar processes of 'decolonization' as they unfolded elsewhere--in Guam, Samoa, Okinawa, for example--that will deepen our understanding of the pernicious effects and persistence of the American empire in the Pacific."--Simeon Man, Hawaiian Journal of History "The text is to be applauded for its quality of analysis, and for its original contribution to tourism studies, military studies and American studies literatures..... Gonzalez presents an impressive and fascinating analysis of her selected case studies. She deftly overlaps mobile sexualities, re-colonization via militarism and tourism, and neoliberalism."--Claudia Bell, Journal of New Zealand and Pacific Studies