Vieques: After the Bombs Dropped
Vieques: After the Bombs Dropped
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Since 2024 I have been working on an extended research project exploring the legacy of a violent military presence on the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. In support of this work I have undertaken repeated research trips and collected data through a rich multi-method approach. I am grateful to the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and the Kroc Institute for International Peace for supporting this work.
Vieques History
The US Navy took control of the majority of land in Vieques in the 1940s, displacing Viequense residents and impacting the island’s social, cultural and economic landscape, as well as it’s physical environment. For six decades the Navy used the island as a base for military preparations, including as a live bombing range which saw a cumulative total of millions of pounds of munitions dropped on Vieques. Between 2001 and 2003, as the result of a remarkable protest campaign which utilized tactics of civil disobedience and engaged an international solidarity movement, the Navy withdrew from the island.
Since that time the lands formerly utilized by the Navy have been transferred out of military possession, with the vast majority of them forming a wildlife refuge. These areas have been undergoing a vast and continuing process of contamination remediation, mainly focused on clearing Unexploded Ordnance (UXO). This procedure, as a designated EPA Superfund site has been under way for two decades with several more projected before completion. This remediation has been a source of contention and disagreement, with many residents of the islands citing health concerns linked to increased rates of cancer and other diseases.
Research Project
My work focusses on the period since the Navy left the island in 2003 and often on the remediation process that has been ongoing since that point. In doing so it attempts to create new understandings regarding legacies of violent histories, touching on themes of environmental and transitional justice, social movements, and democratic representation. This project attempts to speak to an overarching research question focused on understanding state-citizen relationships in the aftermath of violence and it does so by answering three specific questions in the Vieques context:
What explains the divergent outcomes of the campaigns to demand action before the Navy left the island and since that time?
How can a transitional justice lens help to explain the disputes and mistrust which have accompanied the remediation process?
What do traditional theories of democratic representation miss in contexts where the state-citizen relationship is more distant, as is the case of Puerto Rico?
This project is an ongoing effort that has expanded somewhat since I first began the initial phases of research design. I have managed this project in parallel with my primary doctoral research focus and my dissertation work.
Fieldwork and Methods
This project utilizes an innovative mixed methods approach to support its research aims. Relying on both qualitative and quantitative techniques to provide insights relevant to the research questions at hand, the work benefits from research designs tailored to specific questions and making best use of the available data. I have spent a cumulative total of almost five months on Vieques conducting in depth fieldwork as part of this work.
I have conducted more than 50 interviews with individuals connected to Vieques, including prominent civil society members, activists, representatives of various government agencies, and workers connected to the remediation process. In addition to this I have conducted a novel household level survey of Vieques residents (n=367) recording experiences and perspectives related to environmental issues and the remediation process.
Beyond this I have also been able to access and analyse archival material from a variety of sources, including government documents, academic collections and activist archives. And finally, I have conducted some basic GIS analysis of remediated areas using remote satellite data in one part of this research project.
In designing and managing this project I have visited Vieques a number of times, established relationships with individuals and organisations there, and attended public meetings and events relevant to this work and to the quotidian social networking and communication of the Vieques community. I am grateful to everyone who has offered me their time and perspectives in Vieques, and mindful of my position as a visitor in a community that has suffered significant injustice.
To this end I make an effort to work transparently and in conversation with members of the community and civil society in Vieques and also to offer my services on a voluntary basis to initiatives and organisations in Vieques so that I might be able to find small ways to serve a community that has welcomed me as a researcher. If you are working in Vieques and think I might be able to support you or your work in some way, please reach out via the email address at the bottom of this page.
Below is a set of preliminary descriptive findings from a novel survey fielded in Vieques in summer 2025, available for public dissemination amongst groups and individuals interested in perspectives of the ongoing remediation process.
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