Congratulations to UMMAA alum Chelsea Fisher, now assistant professor of anthropology at the University of South Carolina, on the publication of her book Rooting in a Useless Land: Ancient Farmers, Celebrity Chefs, and Environmental Justice in Yucatán. Published by the University of California Press, the book explores colonialism, land dispossession, and environmental injustice in the Yucatán Peninsula. From the UC Press website: "Chelsea Fisher ... 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 narrative—a colonial belief that Maya forests are empty wastelands—which has been driving Indigenous land dispossession and environmental injustice for centuries." Read more and purchase here.
