Professor Mark Hauser’s new book examines the link between plantation slavery and environmental devastation

Professor Mark Hauser, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and an affiliate faculty member of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, has a new book, “Mapping Water in Dominica: Enslavement and Environment under Colonialism,” that examines the link between plantation slavery and the environmental devastation it caused. Hauser draws on archaeological and archival history from the Caribbean island of Dominica to reconstruct the changing ways that enslaved people interacted with water, and he exposes crucial pieces of Dominica’s colonial history that have been omitted from official documents.

Mary C. Beaudry of Boston University calls the book a

“fine demonstration of how sophisticated archaeologists have become in using the unique perspective gained by combining analysis of material culture, the built and natural environment, and landscape to bring fresh insights to our comprehension of slavery in the Caribbean.” Stuart B. Schwartz of Yale University calls it “[p]rovocative and original,” and says it “will be of interest to anyone interested in slavery, the Caribbean, and environmental history.”

“Mapping Water in Dominica” was published by the University of Washington Press and is available in an open-access edition.