Mapping Water in Dominica: Enslavement and Environment under Colonialism

In the eighteenth century, colonial administrators attempted to replace cultivation of varied plant species with sugarcane, causing widespread ecological and social disruption. Mapping Water in Dominica, by Mark Hauser, reconstructs the changing ways enslaved laborers interacted with water and exposes crucial pieces of Dominica's colonial history that have been omitted from official documents. The archaeological record reveals changes in political authority and how social relations were mediated through the environment. Plantation monoculture created predicaments around scarcity, mobility, and belonging, whose resolution was a matter of life and death.

Format: Hardback
Length: 284 pages
Publication date: 11 May 2021
Publisher: University of Washington Press

Dominica, once known as "Nature's Island," was a paradise teeming with diverse biodiversity and an abundance of water. However, in the 18th century, a brief and unsuccessful attempt by colonial administrators to replace the cultivation of various plant species with sugarcane led to widespread ecological and social upheaval. This book vividly illustrates the profound connection between plantation slavery and the environmental devastation it caused, as it situates the social lives of enslaved laborers within the natural history of two Dominican enclaves.

Mark Hauser, a renowned archaeologist, has delved into the rich archival and archaeological history of Dominica to reconstruct the evolving ways enslaved people interacted with water. Through his meticulous research, he unveils crucial aspects of Dominica's colonial history that have been overlooked or omitted from official documents. The archaeological record, which encompasses traces of slave households, waterways, boiling houses, mills, and vessels for storing water, provides a revealing glimpse into changes in political authority and the ways in which social relations were mediated through the environment.

Plantation monoculture, which relied on both slavery and an ample supply of water, operated in tandem with the environment to create predicaments surrounding scarcity, mobility, and belonging. These challenges had life-or-death consequences, as their resolution was intricately linked to the well-being and survival of the enslaved community. By tracing the remnants of these struggles, this investigation offers a valuable example of an environmental challenge centered around insufficient water.

Mapping Water in Dominica is available in an open access edition through the Sustainable History Monograph Pilot, thanks to the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Northwestern University Libraries. This publication makes the rich historical and environmental insights contained within accessible to a broader audience, fostering a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between slavery, monoculture, and the natural world.

Weight: 544g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780295748719