Completing my dissertation has been a journey shaped by countless moments of support, encouragement, and collaboration. In academic publications, acknowledgments are often tucked away in the first few pages, but I believe that gratitude deserves a little more space—especially when it reflects the communities, mentors, and loved ones who helped me along the way. So, I’ve decided to share my acknowledgments here as a way to highlight the incredible people who have supported my work and to offer a glimpse into the collaborative spirit behind this project (especially since my dissertation is embargoed!).
Whether you’re a mentor, colleague, friend, or someone who has followed my work from afar, thank you for being part of this journey. I hope this note of appreciation serves as a reminder that none of us achieve our dreams alone.
Dedication
To my beloved aunt,
Tricia,
who loved nature this much
Acknowledgements
The task of authoring a dissertation is matched only by the honor of expressing gratitude to those who helped make it possible. There are so many to thank and so much to be grateful for. To all those mentioned here, please accept my deepest thanks; if I have missed you, please charge it to my head and not my heart.
This research and writing would not have been possible without the support of several individuals, institutions, and communities across Martinique, France, the United States, and Canada. I am grateful to the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for their support. I also extend my appreciation to the libraries and archives that granted me access to their resources: the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer, Fonds Clément, and the Archives Territoriales de Martinique.
To my committee members in the Department of Anthropology, Paige West, David Scott, and Vanessa Agard-Jones: my gratitude is boundless. If this dissertation were a braid, those familiar with their oeuvres would recognize how each of their intellectual projects forms a distinct strand. The result is a work that carries the strength and beauty of their combined influence yet emerges as something entirely new. Paige, thank you for your methodological rigor that inspires deep engagement in place and with literature and your dedication to your students’ well-being. David, thank you for pushing my thinking and modelling a commitment to asking questions over having answers. Vanessa, thank you for your sage advice and encouragement to follow my own path. Each of you have inspired me deeply and I will carry your lessons with me wherever this academic life takes me.
Throughout my years as a student, I have found mentors, teachers, readers, colleagues, and interlocutors whose generosity I endeavor to replicate in my own practice: Kristina Douglass, Anne Meneley, Deborah Thomas, Ryan Jobson, Camee Maddox-Wingfield, Ashanté Reese, Hanna Garth, Savannah Shange, Mythri Jegathesan, Alyssa Paredes, Andrew Flachs, Saudi Garcia, Sarah Bruno, Chelsey Carter, Tina Lasisi, Anuli Akanegbu, Faye Ginsburg, Ted Fischer, Jane Anderson, Richard and Sally Price, Adam Isaiah Green, Dan Yon, Audra Simpson, Maria José de Abreu, Zoë Crossland, Catherine Fennell, Claudio Lomnitz, Brian Larkin, Lesley Sharp, and Naor Ben-Yehoyada. Special thanks to my M.A. supervisor, David A. B. Murray, and my first Caribbean history professor, Melanie Newton. I can finally fully appreciate your insistence on the first day of classes that we call you “Dr. or Professor Newton.” I, too, will not casually relinquish this hard-earned title.
In Martinique, Benoît Bérard generously hosted me in the AIHP-GÉODE lab at the Université des Antilles. Thank you for being a critical interlocutor and advocate for my research and writing. Mes plus sincères remerciements à Paul et Catherine Caussier, qui m’ont accueillie comme leur quatrième fille au cours de la dernière décennie. Merci d’avoir répondu à mes questions et de m’avoir aidé dans mes recherches. Mais surtout, merci de m’avoir appris comment l’affection et la famille transcendent la langue et la distance. I would not have thrived without the friendships and patience of Sabrina Sinéphro and Michelline Ardes. Importantly, I am grateful to my interlocutors—the people who let me into their homes, lives, businesses, memories, and hopes. Whether you appear on the page or not, you have had a profound impact on me and this work.
In New York, I want to thank the often-unsung heroes of university departments: the staff who keep everything running smoothly. Marilyn Astwood, Renée Tenenbaum, Jeanne Roche, and Michael Chin—I am thankful for your support and dedication.
My work has been enriched by participating in a variety of groups, panels, and workshops, including the Black Atlantic Ecologies Working Group at the Center for the Study of Social Difference, the Political Ecology Group, the Research Group for Sustainable and Equitable Specialty Coffee Markets, and my editorial work on Small Axe. Special thanks to the participants and organizers of the “Island-ing and Archipelagic Thinking” and “Elements in Agriculture” panels at AAA 2023, the “Emerging Directions in Black Studies” panel at AAAS Stanford, the “Food Indeterminacies” panel at AES 2023, and “Value-Based Food Systems” panel at ASFS/AFHVS 2023. It was during these events that I began developing the concepts in my dissertation. The Scheps Workshop provided a collaborative space that was crucial for refining my writing. Thank you to everyone who offered feedback and fostered a spirit of generous and collegial exchange. From my first post-field conference paper to the last chapter of the dissertation, the Writing Studio at Columbia University was a crucial resource and space for thinking, writing, and conversing across disciplines.
Then there are those who have made this PhD journey worthwhile. My cohort, Aamer Ibraheem, Alex Maier, Alyssa Basmajian, Emily Hoffman, Joel van de Sande, and Stephanie Ratte, as well as Fern Thompsett, Margaux Fitoussi, Ally Mitchem, Chazelle Rhoden, Antara Chakrabarti, Alex McDougle, Kiara Houston, Augusta Thomson, Malcolm Bailey, Courtney Fields, Taela Brooks, and Vanessa Salas, thank you for sharing classrooms, homes, drinks, meals, spices, hobbies, joys, sorrows, questions, answers, anxieties, words of encouragement, and acts of support with me. Janita Van Dyk, thank you for being generous with your time and brilliance, compassionate with your friendship, and consistent with your conference companionship. I am immensely grateful for your empathy, support, and your mind palace of anthropological texts.
To My Black Colleagues 2020, Brendane Tynes, Chloé Faux, Chazelle Rhoden, and Nile Davies: thank you for teaching me the power of community, solidarity, and demanding the change we wish to see, even if our labour pains go unrecognized. I am deeply grateful for Zora’s Daughters, the significant and cathartic project that emerged from the shards of my rose-coloured glasses. The insights, relationships, and engagement with our guests and audience profoundly enriched me as a scholar and human.
To others who were part of this journey, your contributions, seen and unseen, have deeply impacted my work and personal growth. Though I may not mention you by name, know that I hold the best of times close to my heart.
Earning a PhD is demanding, not only for the intellectual effort but also because life does not pause for a dissertation’s completion. Now that I am on the other side, I see these trials as a gateway to the great strength I possess today. Thus, I wish to express my lasting and deepest gratitude to my family, both new and passed. Everyone mentioned here has seen me through the growth of my intellectual capacity; you have all seen me through the growth of my capacity to love. To my mumsy, Sandra: I would not be here without you—not just for the obvious reason of having birthed me, but also because of your profound and relentless belief in your children’s potential. Thank you.
