The Drowned

‘A heart-wrenching interrogation of the human and more-than-human consequences of drowning. Whether dealing with the dispossessed and enslaved, witch trials, or planetary water crises, Stratford is empowered by a sense of humanity for those who have gone before and will come after us.’
—Professor Klaus Dodds, Royal Holloway University of London, UK, and author of Border Wars 

‘Offers a compelling account weaving archival stories and textual records, contemporary debates, and personal reflections. It will have impact long after the last page is read.’
—Professor Stuart Elden, University of Warwick, author of The Birth of Territory 

‘An important appeal to recognise the personhood of the drowned and trace how they are entangled in the social world. It invites more, and necessary work to respect and dignify the dead.’
— Dr Carol Farbotko, Griffith University, Australia 

‘Drowning is the primal form of death, geographically localized yet cosmic. This book resonates with that insight. A poignant, expansive, morally engaged cultural geography.’
—Professor Thomas Laqueur, UC Berkeley, author of The Work of the Dead 

‘A meticulously researched book. Stratford develops processes to think elementally and ethically with water and those who die in it and offers rigorous argument, cascading insights, and mature scholarly contemplation of how, where, and why the drowned matter.’
—Professor Elizabeth McMahon, UNSW Sydney, author of Islands, Identity and the Literary Imagination 

This book concerns the elemental geographies and lives and deaths of the drowned to confront enduring forms of oppression. Elaine Stratford documents with penetrating compassion and acumen how human and more-than-human bodies lose personhood in acts of violence, exploitation, marginalisation, cultural imperialism, and powerlessness. This work is both a scholarly and deeply personal call to rethink how we live with, remember, and honour the drowned. It offers profound insights to all those interested in human geography and allied disciplines. 

Elaine Stratford is Professor of Human Geography and Planning at the University of Tasmania, Australia. Her research explores how people flourish and languish in place and on the move.