Haiti's Predatory Republic


Book Description

With the collapse of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986 came optimistic hopes for a transition toward a sound democracy, accompanied by economic development and social peace--a vision which has failed to materialize in the past 15 years. A native of Haiti, Fatton (government, U. of Virginia) analyzes Haitian politics from 1986 to 2001, revealing the complications and conflicts which have slowed the country's progress toward an effective democracy. The author also explores alternatives which could lead the country toward success. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR




Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti


Book Description

In this path-breaking book, Jeb Sprague investigates the dangerous world of right-wing paramilitarism in Haiti and its role in undermining the democratic aspirations of the Haitian people. Sprague focuses on the period beginning in 1990 with the rise of Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and the right-wing movements that succeeded in driving him from power. Over the ensuing two decades, paramilitary violence was largely directed against the poor and supporters of Aristide’s Lavalas movement, taking the lives of thousands of Haitians. Sprague seeks to understand how this occurred, and traces connections between paramilitaries and their elite financial and political backers, in Haiti but also in the United States and the Dominican Republic. The product of years of original research, this book draws on over fifty interviews—some of which placed the author in severe danger—and more than 11,000 documents secured through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. It makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of Haiti today, and is a vivid reminder of how democratic struggles in poor countries are often met with extreme violence organized at the behest of capital.




Haiti


Book Description

The inability of the Haitian state to deal with the devastation of the January 2010 earthquake brought into sharp focus Haiti¿s desperate social and economic conditions¿and raised perplexing questions. What accounts for the country¿s continuing predicament? Why have repeated attempts at democratic governance failed so abysmally? And what role has the international community played? Addressing these questions, Robert Fatton focuses on Haiti¿s long history of predatory rule and also introduces the concept of the outer periphery to explore the impact of a world economy shaped by neoliberal polices. The result is an insightful analysis of contemporary Haitian politics and society with significant implications for the broader study of comparative politics.




Who Owns Haiti?


Book Description

"A timely collection of articles by some of the leading and emerging scholars and specialists on Haiti, offering a wide range of critical perspectives on the question and meaning of sovereignty in Haiti."--Alex Dupuy, coauthor of The Prophet and Power: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the International Community, and Haiti "Directly asks the provocative question of ownership and Haitian sovereignty within the post-earthquake moment--an unstable period in which ideas on (re)development, humanitarianism, globalization, militarism, self-determination, and security converge."--Millery Polyné, author of From Douglass to Duvalier: U.S. African Americans, Haiti, and Pan Americanism, 1870-1964 "Powerful essays by experts in their fields addressing what matters most to smaller nations--the meaning of sovereignty, and the horrid trajectory from colonialism, to neocolonialism into neoliberalism."--Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, author of Haiti: The Breached Citadel Although Haiti established its independence in 1804, external actors such as the United States, the United Nations, and non-profits have wielded considerable influence throughout its history. Especially in the aftermath of the Duvalier regime and the 2010 earthquake, continual imperial interventions have time and again threatened its sovereignty. Who Owns Haiti? explores the role of international actors in the country’s sovereign affairs while highlighting the ways in which Haitians continually enact their own independence on economic, political, and cultural levels. The contributing authors contemplate Haiti’s sovereign roots from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including political science, anthropology, history, economics, and development studies. They also consider the assertions of sovereignty from historically marginalized urban and rural populations. This volume addresses how Haitian institutions, grassroots organizations, and individuals respond to and resist external influence. Examining how foreign actors encroach on Haitian autonomy and shape--or fail to shape--Haiti’s fortunes, it argues that varying discussions of ownership are central to Haiti’s future as a sovereign state. Contributors: Laurent Dubois | Robert Fatton Jr. | Scott Freeman | Nicholas Johnson | Chelsey Kivland | Robert Maguire | Francois Pierre-Louis Jr. | Karen Richman | Ricardo Seitenfus | Amy Wilentz




Haiti


Book Description

“This book...avoids the political debates about Jean-Bertrand Aristide that dominate so many current writings about Haiti. Its focus is the society itself, the sources of difference, the origins of violence, and the possibility of change....The superb work done by the editors has established a high standard for future efforts.” (Terry Copp and John English from the Preface) Haiti is a country in the midst of a political, economic, ecological, and social crisis. Violence has sabotaged attempts to establish the rule of law, and state infrastructure is notably absent in much of the country, leading to an overall climate of insecurity. Haiti: Hope for a Fragile State sheds light on the varied and complex roots of the current crisis, dispels misperceptions, and suggests that the situation in Haiti, despite evidence to the contrary, is not completely desperate. It brings together diverse perspectives on development, the military, history, NGOs, and politics and discusses the peace-building efforts of the past, suggesting ways to move forward to make Haiti a strong state. Co-published with the Centre for International Governance Innovation




In Statu Nascendi


Book Description

In Statu Nascendi is a peer-reviewed journal that aspires to be a world-class scholarly platform encompassing original academic research dedicated to the circle of Political Philosophy, Cultural Studies, Theory of International Relations, Foreign Policy, and the political Decision-making process. The journal investigates specific issues through a socio-cultural, philosophical, and anthropological approach to raise a new type of civic awareness about the complexity of contemporary crisis, instability, and warfare situations, where the “stage-of-becoming” plays a vital role. Issue 2021:2 comprises, amongst others, the following articles: · Culture as Understood in the Thought of Emmanuel Levinas and Hans-Georg Gadamer · Literature as a Modern Art (Letërsiasi art modern) · Aristotle’s Phronesis and Socratic Skepticism: A Starting Point for the Development of Applied Ethics · The 30th Anniversary of the Visegrád Group (V4) Seen through the Perspective of Selected Integrationist Theories · Book Review: Conflict Resolution Beyond the International Relations Paradigm Evolving Designs as a Transformative Practice in Nagorno-Karabakh and Syria by Philip Gamaghelyan




Haiti


Book Description

After supporting Préval as the indispensable President of Haiti, the United States and France grew increasingly antagonistic to him and were bent on preventing the election of his handpicked successor, Jude Célestin. In fact, Seitenfus reveals that this antagonism reached the point where the Core Group led by Mulet attempted to remove Préval from office and send him into exile. Had it not been for the intervention of Seitenfus himself, Préval might well have had in Mulet's words "to leave the presidency and abandon Haiti." While the Core group failed to carry this gross and illegal coup, it nonetheless succeeded in creating a process that changed the results of the first round of the presidential elections and opened the way to Martelly's election in the second round. Seitenfus' explosive revelations are of great significance and deserve to be known by a wide audience. In addition, Seitenfus expands the thoughts he initially developed in an interview published in December 2010 that was highly critical of the international intervention in Haiti and that ultimately led to his firing by the OAS. Haiti: International Dilemmas and Failures shows convincingly that the intervention has been a failure. It has not contributed to any significant economic development, it has failed to stabilize the democratic transition, and it has a deeply flawed record on establishing the institutions required for a secure environment. He also makes the case that the agreements signed between the Haitian government and the UN allowing MINUSTAH to take control of the country were illegal; they lacked the endorsement of Haiti's president, and were thus unconstitutional. Seitenfus is not only critical of the foreign community; he has harsh words for the behavior of Haiti's venal political class and predatory elite. While he has good things to say about Préval, he is right in condemning his anarchic disdain for institutions and his slow and hesitant reaction to the earthquake. Préval was no dictator and probably did more for national reconciliation than any other Haitian leader, but he lacked a sense of purpose to guide the country in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake. In conclusion, Seitenfus has written a provocative and most persuasive and detailed account of the travail of the foreign occupation of Haiti. It will attract a wide audience; "Haitianists," academics and professionals studying international relations, humanitarian interventions, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the UN will be interested in Haiti: International Dilemmas and Failures. Seitenfus has thus written an important and critical book that will become a must read for anyone interested in Haiti, development, and humanitarian interventions. He shows persuasively that the type of foreign assistance that Haiti has been receiving does more harm than good. I am convinced that Haiti: International Dilemmas and Failures will be a major reference in Haitianist circles for a long time to come; it is an eloquent challenge to the prevailing system of foreign assistance and imperial interference. It is the work of a brave man and real humanist. July 21 2020 Robert Fatton Jr. Julia Cooper Professor of Politics Department of Politics University of Virginia




Damming the Flood


Book Description

Long before a devastating earthquake hit in January 2010, Haiti was one of the most impoverished and oppressed countries in the world. However, in the late 1980s a remarkable popular mobilization known as Lavalas ("the flood") sought to liberate the island from decades of US-backed dictatorial rule. Damming the Flood analyzes how and why the Lavalas governments led by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide were overthrown, in 1991 and again in 2004, by the enemies of democracy in Haiti and abroad. The elaborate campaign to suppress Lavalas was perhaps the most successful act of imperial sabotage since the end of the Cold War. It has left the people of Haiti at the mercy of some of the most rapacious political and economic forces on the planet. Updated with a substantial new afterword that addresses the international response to the earthquake, Damming the Flood is both an invaluable account of recent Haitian history and an illuminating analysis of twenty-first-century imperialism.




Politics or Markets?


Book Description

First published in 1992. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.




Islands of Sovereignty


Book Description

In Islands of Sovereignty, anthropologist and legal scholar Jeffrey S. Kahn offers a new interpretation of the transformation of US borders during the late twentieth century and its implications for our understanding of the nation-state as a legal and political form. Kahn takes us on a voyage into the immigration tribunals of South Florida, the Coast Guard vessels patrolling the northern Caribbean, and the camps of Guantánamo Bay—once the world’s largest US-operated migrant detention facility—to explore how litigation concerning the fate of Haitian asylum seekers gave birth to a novel paradigm of offshore oceanic migration policing. Combining ethnography—in Haiti, at Guantánamo, and alongside US migration patrols in the Caribbean—with in-depth archival research, Kahn expounds a nuanced theory of liberal empire’s dynamic tensions and its racialized geographies of securitization. An innovative historical anthropology of the modern legal imagination, Islands of Sovereignty forces us to reconsider the significance of the rise of the current US immigration border and its relation to broader shifts in the legal infrastructure of contemporary nation-states across the globe.