Dark Laboratory

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 Book *A necessary, much needed cri de coeur, a thoroughly compelling book about the climate crisis and the Caribbean region. Dark Laboratory is utterly unique to read; it is punch the air, punch in the gut, heart palpitations thrilling. Goffe isn’t just a scholar of the current climate emergency but a poet and a feminist who joins the dots … Every page is mixed with heart and conviction. Mandatory reading on climate and the Caribbean region – Monique Roffey, author of ‘The Mermaid of Black Conch’Groundbreaking … In a narrative spanning hundreds of years, thousands of miles and successive waves of colonial driven migration, Goffe charts the development of the modern western ideology that has come to dominate the world * Guardian *Spinning off in unexpected and creative directions … new possibilities emerge in the collision of ideas, including the hopeful possibility of healing and restoration … the constant divergences and convergences of the text are entirely deliberate – an apt way of showing how racial inequality runs like mycellium through the story of climate. This is a book about interconnections, about allowing different lines of thought to cross-pollinate each other * The Earthbound Report *A timely and refreshingly provocative study … [Goffe] proves to be an engaging scholar, and her work will go far in reshaping academic approaches to her most interesting subject matter … [Dark Laboratory] leaves the reader with something to ponder * Kirkus *Hugely important … A truly illuminating book that joins the dots on the ideologies and realities that underpin our world, written with clarity, passion, insight and a frequently beautiful poetic turn of phrase. Essential reading for anyone with a curiosity over the true shape of global structures, and the intersections of identity, colonialism, capitalism and the climate crisis – Jeffrey Boakye, author of ‘Black, Listed’A work of searching curiosity and intelligence that traces the connections between colonial power, racial violence and the perilous state of our planet today, while also sketching a path to a more liveable, less unequal future. It is a necessary book and an important one – Ekow Eshun, author of ‘The Strangers: Five Extraordinary Black Men and the Worlds That Made Them’Nimble and prophesying, truthful and rigorous, Professor Tao Leigh Goffe roots the climate crisis to its true origins - the exploitation of people of colour - without hyperbole or lambast. This is the way it is. In having the knowledge, determination and simple intent to go where others have not, Dark Laboratory is a benchmark, both for experts within the climate struggle, and those wishing to know more. A vital, compelling and nuanced addition to the most pressing debate of modern times – Courttia Newland, author of ‘A River Called Time’A powerful and tender and inspiring journey through time, landscapes and ideas that shape our understanding of the origins of climate breakdown and futures we can and must realise – Joycelyn Longdon, founder of ClimateinColourThis timely book illuminates the connections between colonization and climate change by providing poignant real-world examples which expose the historically illiterate thinking of powerful nations on this topic – Corinne Fowler, author of ‘Our Island Stories: Country Walks Through Colonial Britain’

Tao Leigh Goffe is an award-winning writer, theorist, and interdisciplinary artist who grew up between London and New York. She is Associate Professor at the City University of New York and the founder of Dark Laboratory, a climate research organization which focuses on the study of race, technology and ecology. Tao lives and works in Manhattan. Dark Laboratory is her first book.