Global Guyana

Exposes the global threat of environmental catastrophe and the forms of erasure that structure Caribbean womens lives in the overlooked nation of Guyana Previously ranked among the hemispheres poorest countries, Guyana is becoming a global leader in per capita oil production, a shift which promises to profoundly transform the nation. This sea change presents a unique opportunity to dissect both the environmental impacts of modern-world resource extraction and the obscured yet damaging ways in which intersectional race and gender formations circumscribe Caribbean womens lives. Drawing from archival research and oral history, and examining mass-mediated flashpoints across the African and Indian diasporasincluding Rihannas sonic routes, ethnic conflict reportage, HBOs Lovecraft Country, and Netflixs Indian MatchmakingGlobal Guyana repositions this marginalized nation as a nexus of social and economic activity which drives popular culture and ideas about sexuality while reshaping the geopolitical and literal topography of the Caribbean region. Oneka LaBennett employs the powerful analytic of the pointer broom to disentangle the symbiotic relationship between Guyanese womens gendered labor and global racial capitalism. She illuminates how both oil extraction and sand export are implicated in a well-established practice of pillaging the Caribbeans natural resources while masking the ecological consequences that disproportionately affect women and children. Global Guyana uncovers how ecological erosion and gendered violence are entrenched in extractive industries emanating from this often-effaced but pivotal country. Sounding the alarm on the portentous repercussions that ambitious development spells out for the nations people and its geographical terrain, LaBennett issues a warning for all of us about the looming threat of global environmental calamity.