The Wayne State University Department of Anthropology invites you to Samantha Ellens’ Dissertation Defense on Friday, February 21st at 10am in Room 1224 Old Main (Anthro Library) and on Zoom.

 

This dissertation is an historical archaeological analysis of the social, economic, and environmental impacts of Montserrat’s citrus lime industry (ca. 1852-1928) in the post-emancipation era. This study uses a multi-scalar and multi-sited framework, drawing upon different resolutions of data at the local, regional, and global level to interrogate the relationships and pathways through which the industry operated. It integrates scholarly insights from archaeologies of capitalism and the anthropology of food and consumption to provide a more comprehensive and inclusive narrative of post-emancipation life in the Caribbean. Combining archaeological, archival, and GIS data, it investigates the transition from sugar to lime production, the rise of The Montserrat Company, and the experiences of the island’s inhabitants at two contemporaneous, yet disparate, domestic sites. The research also explores the regional and global connections of the lime industry, tracing the circulation of lime commodities and their representation in British colonial discourse. Archaeological evidence suggests that a complex network of agents, policies, and processes was active in shaping the dynamics of lime-era Montserrat.  These entities interacted in a diverse set of often conflicting ways, ultimately shifting the experiences of everyday life on the island and the colonial arrangements of class, race, and labor. Most notably, Afro-Montserratians exercised their agency during this period of socioeconomic upheaval to initiate intergenerational mobility and the emergence of an Afro-Caribbean middle-class by the turn of the 20thcentury. The dissertation contributes to understanding the complexities of post-emancipation life in the Caribbean, the role of agro-industries in shaping local landscapes, and the legacies of colonialism and capitalism in the region.