Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis

Dr Tao Leigh Goffe

€ 23.99

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From award-winning writer and theorist Tao Leigh Goffe, an urgent investigation into the intertwined history of colonialism and the climate crisis –and the lessons we can learn to fight for a better world.
Our planet is on the precipice of dramatic ecological breakdown and climate despair is at an all-time high. But there are many communities who have survived beyond the environmental destruction wrought on them by colonialism –and they hold the solutions for climate repair.
Using the Caribbean as a case study, Tao Leigh Goffe traces the vibrant and complex history of the islands back to 1492 and the arrival of Christopher Columbus when the Caribbean became the subject of Western exploitation. Charting the human and ecological forces that have shaped the islands, Goffe examines the legacy of fierce warrior Queen Nanny of the Maroons, engages in pressing cultural debate about stolen artefacts and human remains which are kept hidden in museum archives, and visits Indigenous farming cooperatives who are using ancestral knowledge to rebuild their communities.
Using the Caribbean as a both a warning and a guide, Dark Laboratorytakes hopeful and galvanizing teachings from the islands communities to offer illuminating solutions to the ecological crisis. From guano to sugarcane, coral bleaching to invasive mongoose populations, Dark Laboratoryis a lyrical, vibrant and urgent investigation into the greatest threat facing humanity.
Tao Leigh Goffe is an award-winning writer, theorist, and interdisciplinary artist who grew up between London and New York. She is Associate Professor at the City University of New York and the founder of Dark Laboratory, a climate research organization which focuses on the study of race, technology and ecology. Tao lives and works in Manhattan. Dark Laboratoryis her first book.