Description
Book SynopsisIn Rooting in a Useless Land, Chelsea Fisher examines the deep histories of environmental-justice conflicts in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. She draws on her innovative archaeological research in Yaxunah, an Indigenous Maya farming community dealing with land dispossession, but with a surprising twist: Yaxunah happens to be entangled with prestigious sustainable-development projects initiated by some of the most famous chefs in the world. Fisher contends that these sustainable-development initiatives inadvertently bolster the useless-land narrativea colonial belief that Maya forests are empty wastelandswhich has been driving Indigenous land dispossession and environmental injustice for centuries. Rooting in a Useless Land explores how archaeology, practiced within communities, can restore history and strengthen relationships built on contested ground.
Table of ContentsContents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Rooting in a Useless Land
1 • The Celebrity Chef Lands in Yaxunah
2 • Murderer of the Woodland
3 • Seeds of Permanence
4 • Taproot to Fibrous Root
5 • Lines in the Forest
6 • The Ghost of Chaipa Chi
Appendix A. Time Line of Key Events in the History of the Yaxunah Ejido
Appendix B. Comparison of Homesites Documented at Tzacauil
Notes
Bibliography
Index
