Global Guyana: Shaping Race, Gender, and Environment in the Caribbean and Beyond

by Oneka LaBennett

Exposes the global threat of environmental catastrophe and the forms of erasure that structure Caribbean women’s lives in the overlooked nation of Guyana

Previously ranked among the hemisphere’s poorest countries, Guyana is now on the brink of becoming the 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 women’s lives.

Drawing from archival research and oral history, and examining mass-mediated flashpoints across the African and Indian diasporas―including Rihanna’s sonic routes, ethnic conflict reportage, HBO’s Lovecraft Country , and Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking ― Global 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 women’s 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 Caribbean’s 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 nation’s people and its geographical terrain, LaBennett issues a warning for all of us about the looming threat of global environmental calamity.

256 pages, Paperback

Published April 16, 2024

Reviews

[Diane Rembert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gives the reader an inside look at Guyana…their goods, their cultural beliefs and their thoughts about Bajan women. There was a lot of reference fade to Rihanna, who we learn is Bajan thru her mother and Guyanese thru her estranged father.

I read this book for Caribbean American Heritage Month, and I would recommend it over and over.

[R. Allyeah Ansari · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a Guyanese woman, I found this book to be extremely accurate in its representations to Guyanese culture and lifestyle. Adding in the insights to how Guyana is impacted by its current socioeconomic structure, this book becomes a compelling read.

[Marietere T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book because I wanted to learn more about other Caribbean countries. You know this was very informative and I liked learning more about Guyana. It opened my eyes to some things that are happening there.

I got an e-arc of this book on NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.