Politics, Development, and Discourse in Port-Au-Prince
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What’s Wrong with Haiti? Politics, Development, and Discourse in Port-au-Prince by Alison C. Joersz A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) in the University of Michigan 2016 Doctoral Committee: Professor Stuart Kirsch, Co-Chair Associate Professor Michael P. Lempert, Co-Chair Assistant Professor Robert S. Jansen Professor Alaina M. Lemon Professor Kristina S. Wirtz, Western Michigan University ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completing this dissertation was a long, and often difficult journey. It was one supported by the assistance of many individuals and institutions in a variety of forms. They are too numerable to be named individually yet I am eternally grateful for each and every one of them, no matter how big or small the assistance was. The research and writing for this project was generously supported by fellowships from University of Michigan’s International Institute, Rackham Graduate School, the Department of Anthropology, the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, and the Institute for the Humanities. Along the way, I received considerable scholarly advice, encouragement, and support from mentors, advisors, instructors, and colleagues alike, including my entire committee – Stuart Kirsch, Michael Lempert, Kristina Wirtz, Alaina Lemon, and Rob Jansen – as well as:Mark Schuller, Chelsey Kivland, Richard Turits, Maxwell Owusu, Sophonie Joseph, Athena Kolbe, Ling Lab participants, Michicagoan attendees (2013), my fellow IRWG Community of Scholars participants (2014), and Humanities Institute scholars (2014-15). Living in Haiti and learning from those around me was not always an easy process yet it was made that much easier and enjoyable by the many generous Haitians and expatriates who went out of their way to help a stumbling and sometimes incoherent blan. I especially want to thank those that welcomed me into their lives and willingly put up with my presence and questions. There are far too many individuals to name but suffice to say that I am deeply grateful ii for every moment of assistance, especially the many small conversations that ultimately contributed the most to my understanding of Haitian society and my research data. Donald, Etzer, and Papouche were particularly helpful during a time when my Kreyòl language abilities were still limited and my knowledge of Haitian culture and navigating Port-au-Prince was sketchy at best. Fellow scholars and activists working in the country, including Rachelle Doucet, Talitha, Sophonie, Athena, Marie, Alexis, Meagan, Kristen & Wawa, among others, all helped me immensely in thinking through the observations I was making at the time and pointed me in new and fruitful directions when I most needed them. I also want to thank my Haitian students at the Institute for Social Work and Social Sciences, who both knowingly and unknowingly assisted in “thinking through” the information I had collected and observations I had made in the preceding years. I am especially grateful to Louiceus, Biglo, and Francillon for the various ways in which they assisted me in processing my research data, including transcription and interpretation assistance. It is to the members at both organizations with which I worked that my deepest gratitude is owed. Without your willing participation and support, this project would not have been possible. Regarding Chapter 5, I want to thank the editorial staff, and anonymous reviewers at the Journal of Linguistic Anthropology who were all crucial in helping to construct that particular chapter. I would also like to thank Don Kato and the rest of the Brothers Posse crew for granting permission to extensively quote their song “Aloral.” I am also grateful to Jerry Bousiquot (Bousiko) and Frantz Duval at Le Nouvelliste for allowing reproduction of the cartoon image featured in the chapter. Last but not least, I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support and encouragement, especially my parents, my daughter Naël, and my loving partner Jason. Even at iii times when it seemed like an insurmountable obstacle, you encouraged me to keep going. For that, I thank you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................................ii LIST OF TRANSCRIPTS .................................................................................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES ...........................................................................................................................ix LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................................x LIST OF APPENDICES ....................................................................................................................xi NOTE ON LANGUAGE ...................................................................................................................xii ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................................xxi Introduction ........................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: Enduring Social Divisions: The Entanglement of Development and Politics........................................................................................................................51 CHAPTER 2: Discursive Blame Game: The Political Engagements of a Human Rights Organization ...............................................................................................................108 CHAPTER 3: Educating about the Past: The Politics of Historical Interpretation ..........................189 CHAPTER 4: Getting Started: The Political Pragmatics of Strategizing .........................................245 CHAPTER 5: Going to Church or the Devil’s House: The Ethics of Political Strategizing ................................................................................................................318 CHAPTER 6: Sloganization and the Political Pragmatics of Interdiscursivity: The Social Life of a Haitian Political Critique ..................................................................382 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................................418 v APPENDICES ...................................................................................................................................434 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................448 vi LIST OF TRANSCRIPTS TRANSCRIPT 2.0: Guerline Bids for the Floor ...................................................................................................151 2.1: Alain Calls for More Opinions .............................................................................................153 2.2: Alain Bids for the Floor ........................................................................................................154 2.3: Discussion Closes .................................................................................................................155 3.0: Dev Org Conference Debate .................................................................................................218 4.0: Pink Bracelet Scandal ...........................................................................................................305 4.1: “Your face needs to be seriousˮ ...........................................................................................309 5.0: History Could Judge .............................................................................................................323 5.1: Legal Issues...........................................................................................................................326 5.2: Rape Scandal.........................................................................................................................349 5.3: David’s Alternative Strategy ................................................................................................356 5.4: “Se konsaˮ ............................................................................................................................370 5.5: Shifting Responsibility .........................................................................................................371 5.6: Ernesto’s Disfluencies ..........................................................................................................374 6.0: Brothers Posse’s “Aloralˮ ....................................................................................................397 6.1: Brothers Posse’s “Aloralˮ (continued) .................................................................................398 6.2: Radio Political Commentary on Aloral ................................................................................408 vii 6.3: Radio Political Commentary on Aloral (continued) .............................................................409 6.4: President Martelly’s Response to Aloral ..............................................................................413 viii LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: United States Foreign Assistance to Haiti .................................................................................66 2: Estimates of the Number of NGOs in