Economies of Desire: Sex and Tourism in Cuba and the Dominican Republic (review)

Economies of Desire offers a well-written and engaging analysis of sexual encounters between foreign tourists and locals in the Dominican Republic and Cuba. Among the book's strengths are its comparative perspective, its theoretical contributions to rethinking the terms sex and sex work, its careful attention to race and class dynamics, and the contextualization of sexualized tourism within the larger global political economy of international tourism. Cabezas artfully tackles these substantive issues with lucid explanations, and the text is peppered with personal stories from her informants to bring her points to life. The book focuses primarily on local women and male tourists. Cabezas recognizes that local men are also increasingly involved with female tourists (a phenomenon common in some tourist zones in Africa, as well), but their experiences are not central to the text. Examining this dynamic would certainly have added much to her gendered analysis. Likewise, the perspectives of the tourists themselves are minimal in her account.

The book's comparative framework breaks the mold of Cuban exceptionalism, which for decades has caused researchers to exclude Cuba from comparisons with the Caribbean or Latin America. The economic crisis of 1990s Cuba and the neoliberal restructuring in the Dominican Republic lead to similar material hardships for so many women, driving some to sell sex-affect to resolver (to make ends meet). Interestingly, from this angle, the two countries, one capitalist, one socialist, look remarkably similar given what Cabezas calls the "homogenizing practices of global capital" (22). In Cabezas's work, we see the striking similarities, as well as the important differences in the sexualized tourist trade on the two island nations. Although the Dominican Republic has some formal brothels, in Cuba the women tend to meet tourists independently, although most recently men have become involved as intermediaries in some cases.

The book's main contribution to the literature on sex work is its reconceptualization of sexualized tourism. Cabezas argues that many of the relationships and exchanges between tourists and locals do not fit neatly into existing paradigms of commercial exchanges of sex for money, in which women are portrayed as victims of male desires and objects of patriarchal oppression. At the same time, all women involved in these exchanges do not embrace the identity of sex worker that has been depicted in feminist research as a status with more agency and control to counter for women. Rather, Cabezas moves beyond this binary and describes diverse types of sexualized connections between tourists and locals, and she emphasizes the affective and dynamic nature of the encounters. There is sex sold in brothels (in the Dominican Republic), but there are also many ongoing, long-term travel romances in both countries. At times even marriage proposals and migration can result from these affective sexual relations, which is, of course, often the ultimate goal of the locals engaged in these affairs. The women themselves may engage in, then detach themselves from, relations with tourists in a fluid manner, so for many the identity of sex worker seems inappropriate. Although the women themselves may distance themselves from the sex-worker identity, in many ways state agents (e.g., police) impose it on them. As Cabezas reports, women in both countries experience state violence through tourist-centric policies and police actions that often result in abuse and excessive surveillance and harassment of locals. Finally, Cabezas examines the possibilities and limitations of using a human rights framework to respond to what she calls state-sponsored violence.

Cabezas highlights the agency of the women involved in these encounters with tourists. She uses the term tactical sex to describe the deliberate agency and control the local women employ in determining when, why, and with whom they will have sex. Cabezas shows the complexity of their relationships with foreigners, which involve both affection and an obligation of social ties though which goods, money, and invitations to travel abroad may continue to flow long after a tourist has...