Tectonic Shifts: Haiti Since the Earthquake

by Mark Schuller (Editor), Pablo Morales (Editor)

Overview

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti’s capital on January 12, 2010 will be remembered as one of the world’s deadliest disasters. The earthquake was a tragedy that gripped the nation—and the world. But as a disaster it also magnified the social ills that have beset this island nation that sits squarely in the United States’ diplomatic and geopolitical shadow. The quake exposed centuries of underdevelopment, misguided economic policies, and foreign aid interventions that have contributed to rampant inequality and social exclusion in Haiti.

Tectonic Shifts offers a diverse on-the-ground set of perspectives about Haiti’s cataclysmic earthquake and the aftermath that left more than 1.5 million individuals homeless. Following a critical analysis of Haiti’s heightened vulnerability as a result of centuries of foreign policy and most recently neoliberal economic policies, this book addresses a range of contemporary realities, foreign impositions, and political changes that occurred during the relief and reconstruction periods.

Analysis of these realities offers tools for engaged, principled reflection and action. Essays by scholars, journalists, activists, and Haitians still on the island and those in the Diaspora highlight the many struggles that the Haitian people face today, providing lessons not only for those impacted and involved in relief, but for people engaged in struggles for justice and transformation in other parts of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781565495111
Publisher:	Kumarian Press, Inc.
Publication date:	01/28/2012
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mark Schuller is Assistant Professor of African American Studies and Anthropology, York College, City University of New York.

Pablo Morales is Editor at the North American Congress on Latin America.

Table of Contents

Illustrations Abbreviations Introduction

PART I GEOPOLITICAL STRUCTURES: THE EARTHQUAKE, UNDERDEVELOPMENT, AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
1 Haiti’s Vulnerability to Disasters
Humanitarian Assistance to Gonaïves after Hurricane Jeanne—Rachel Beauvoir-Dominique Haiti’s 500-Year Earthquake—Anthony Oliver-Smith The Neoliberal Legacy in Haiti—Alex Dupuy Haiti and Catastrophes: Lessons Not Learned—Yolette Etienne

2 Rat Mode, Soufle: Foreign Domination
Foreign Domination in Haiti: When Will We See a Rupture?—Roland Belizaire Deconstructing the Reconstruction: The IHRC—Joris Willems Assumptions and Exclusion: Coordination Failures During the Emergency Phase—Melinda Miles Mission Accomplished? MINUSTAH in Haiti, 2010–2011—Kevin Edmonds, Deepa Panchang, Marshall Fleurant, Brennan Bollman, Lindsay Schubiner, and Rishi Rattan

3 The Republic of NGOs
Earthquake, Humanitarianism, and Intervention in Haiti—Charles Vorbe NGOs and the Business of Poverty in Haiti—Kevin Edmonds The Transparency of Relief Organizations in Haiti—Disaster Accountability Project NGOs: Which Government Are You?—Janil Lwijis (Jean-Anile Louis-Juste)

4 Disaster Capitalism
After Quake, a “Gold Rush” for Haiti Contracts—Ansel Herz and Kim Ives Building Illusions: A Case Study of Bill Clinton’s Photo-Op Philanthropy—Isabeau Doucet and Isabel Macdonald Cash for What?—Haiti Grassroots Watch Teleco, Haiti’s State Phone Company, Finally Privatized—Hervé Jean Michel

PART 2 ON-THE-GROUND REALITIES:DISPLACEMENT AND ITS DISCONTENTS
5 Moun Andeyò: Persistent Legacies of Exclusion
Haiti’s Earthquake: A Further Insult to Peasants’ Lives—Chenet Jean-Baptiste Resettlement Plan Excludes Almost 200,000 Families—Jane Regan
ß Reconstructing Exclusion—Evelyne Trouillot Position Statement After the January 12, 2010, Earthquake—Batay Ouvriye

6 The Camps and Being Displaced
Diary of a Survivor in Haiti—Carine Exantus The Situation of the Displaced Six Months Later—Bri Kouri Nouvèl Gaye Unstable Foundations: NGOs and Human Rights for Port-au-Prince’s Internally Displaced People—Mark Schuller Do It Yourself: International Aid and the Neoliberal Ethos in the Tent Camps of Port-au-Prince—Valerie Kaussen

7 Forced Eviction and the Right to Housing
Workshop on the Right to Housing—Patrice Florvilus Combating Forced Evictions in Haiti’s IDP Camps—Mario Joseph and Jeena Shah Vanishing Camps at Gunpoint—Mark Snyder New Threats of Eviction After One Death in Port-au-Prince IDP Camp—Etant Dupain

8 Impacts on and Participation of Women
Hearing Our Mothers: Safeguarding Haitian Women’s Representation and Practices of Survival—Myriam J.A. Chancy Our Bodies Are Still Trembling: Haitian Women Fight Rape—MADRE, CUNY School of Law, Bureau des Avocats Internationaux, and Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti Sexual Violence in Haiti’s IDP Camps: Survey Results—Veerle Opgenhafen and Margaret Satterthwaite Women Say, Enough Is Enough!—Eramithe Delva and Malya Villard-Appolon

9 Rights and Public Health
First, Do No Harm: The Haitian Cholera Epidemic and International Aid—Renaud Piarroux, Robert Barrais, Benoît Faucher, Rachel Haus, Martine Piarroux, Jean Gaudart, Roc Magloire, and Didier Raoult Responding to Cholera in Post-Earthquake Haiti—David A. Walton and Louise C. Ivers
“We’ve Been Forgotten”: Haiti’s IDP Camps Eight Months After the Earthquake—LAMP for Haiti Foundation, IJDH, BAI, and Lawyers’ Emergency Response Network, and University of San Francisco School of Law, Center for Law and Global Justice
“Waiting for Helicopters”? Perceptions, Misperceptions, and the Right to Water in Haiti—Deepa Panchang

PART 3 EMERGING MOVEMENTS: POLITICAL RESTRUCTURING IN HAITI
10 Politics From Above: Elections and Geopolitics
The November 28, 2010, Elections: Another Catastrophe for Haiti—Jean-Yves Blot Haiti’s Fatally Flawed Election—Jake Johnston and Mark Weisbrot Martelly’s Election: Shades of Populism and Authoritarian Rule—Patrick Sylvain The Haitian Diaspora: Supporting Reconstruction From the Centers of Power—Manolia Charlotin

11 Politics From Below: Solidarity, Participation, and Emerging Movements
“We Bend, but We Don’t Break”: Fighting for a Just Reconstruction in Haiti—Beverly Bell Shadow Gender Document—Women’s International Network of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC), Equality Now, Gender and Disaster Network, Groots International, Huairou Commission, Lambi Fund of Haiti, MADRE, ORÉGAND (Observatoire sur le développement régional et l’analyse différenciée selon les, sexes), Poto Mitan: Rebuilding Haiti Initiative
“We Need to Stay Vigilant”: An Interview With Lise-Marie Dejean—Mark Schuller Final Resolution: International Forum on the Crisis of Housing in Haiti, May 19–21, 2011—FRAKKA

CONCLUSION: SHIFTING THE TERRAIN
Why Haiti Needs New Narratives Now More Than Ever—Gina Athena Ulysse The 1987 Constitution: Can It Bring about Haiti’s “Re-Foundation”?—Fritz Deshommes Contributors Index