'An exhilarating urgent work . . . [ Dark Laboratory ] threads together ecological and human
crises in an original glittering web' Afua Hirsch 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 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. 'Noble and necessary . . . Goffe's ear is tuned to songs of resistance to what it
looks like to make life amid (and after) colonial subjugation' New York Times 'Thoroughly
compelling . . . Every page is mixed with heart and conviction' Monique Roffey
