Banana plantation architecture, environmental degradation, and images of spatial violence in the Costa Rican Caribbean

Abstract

This article explores the interrelations between environmental degradation, the expansion of the banana monoculture, and specific architectural and spatial configurations produced by the United Fruit Company in the Costa Rican Caribbean. The notion of “spatial violence” is used to examine images that reveal a history of ecological devastation and racial segregation fostered by the banana corporations, materialized in the organization of space.