Dark Laboratory
On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis
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Dark Laboratory
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About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
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 Laboratory takes 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 Laboratory is a lyrical, vibrant and urgent investigation into the greatest threat facing humanity.
‘Necessary, thoroughly compelling . . . Every page is mixed with heart and conviction’ Monique Roffey, author of ‘The Mermaid of Black Conch’
Critic Reviews
'Hugely important . . . A truly illuminating book that joins the dots on the ideologies and realities that underpin our world, written with clarity, passion, insight and a frequently beautiful poetic turn of phrase. Essential reading for anyone with a curiosity over the true shape of global structures, and the intersections of identity, colonialism, capitalism and the climate crisis' (Jeffrey Boakye, author of 'Black, Listed')
'Nimble and prophesying, truthful and rigorous, Professor Tao Leigh Goffe roots the climate crisis to its true origins - the exploitation of people of colour - without hyperbole or lambast. This is the way it is. In having the knowledge, determination and simple intent to go where others have not, Dark Laboratory is a benchmark, both for experts within the climate struggle, and those wishing to know more. A vital, compelling and nuanced addition to the most pressing debate of modern times' (Courttia Newland, author of 'A River Called Time')
'This timely book illuminates the connections between colonization and climate change by providing poignant real-world examples which expose the historically illiterate thinking of powerful nations on this topic' (Corinne Fowler, author of 'Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain')
'Goffe offers a compelling treatise for our time . . . This is a book that will expand the conventional wisdoms and vocabularies and reset our imaginary. It journeys across a vast territory of mobilities and ecologies, engaging with a range of indigenous knowledges in a stimulating and at times personal post-colonial account that communicates joy and optimism' (Charlotte Williams, author of 'Sugar and Slate')