Tectonic Shifts. Haiti Since the Earthquake

Disaster Prevention and Management

ISSN: 0965-3562

Article publication date: 21 June 2013

214

Citation

Wagner, A. (2013), "Tectonic Shifts. Haiti Since the Earthquake", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 293-295. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-03-2013-0061

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


Tectonic Shifts, edited by Mark Schuller and Pablo Morales, is a very timely publication. The composition of 46 short, interwoven essays and opinion pieces by 59 authors and organizations, half of whom are “individuals or groups based in Haiti” (p. 8), sheds a light on the domestic perspective of the country's society, history and politics. Therein lies the book's particular strength, considering that not only since the traumatizing earthquake of January 12, 2010, Haiti has been strongly shaped by foreign powers, just as its global public representation has been dominated by foreign media. Other than could be surmised from the title, while the book focuses on the events which have taken place since the earthquake, most of its contributions are based on the premise that historically grown social, economic, and spatial power structures and inequalities – both domestic and foreign – have cemented the vulnerability of the majority of Haiti's population, or, as Anthony Oliver‐Smith (2013) concludes, “much of the devastation and misery caused in Haiti by the earthquake […] was a product of historical processes set in motion since the time of independence, and even earlier” (p. 23).

A tripartite structure leads the readers through this other view on the “poorest country in the Western hemisphere”: in the first part, the authors explore the deep‐rooted reasons of Haiti's vulnerability and social inequality, taking into account both historical and geopolitical factors, and thus showing the human contributions to this “natural” disaster: such as the debts that the young nation had to pay to France, the US occupation and centralization of the country (p. 97), or the disastrous effects of neoliberal reforms. Further contributions assess the more recent role of humanitarian organizations, the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSTAH, international NGOs as well as the US Government, especially since January 2010, arguing that vulnerabilities were not adequately addressed. The lack of local participation and transparency are among the authors’ main criticisms of the relief phase. According to the various observations, Haitians were excluded “on the ground” through physical and linguistic barriers, as well as from decisions on how the country should be rebuilt for instance during the “‘International Donors’ Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti”, which took part in New York two months after the earthquake. As a result, relief activities often did not reach their goals, such as the highly popular Cash for Work programs, which aimed at preventing potential uprisings and triggering economic activity, but instead often provoked corruption and unsustainable consumption patterns.

The book's second part looks further at concrete consequences of the earthquake and of decisions which have been taken during the relief and “reconstruction” phase – and which have been mostly, to put it mildly, challenging for the population, be it (forced) displacement, increased insecurity or new, emerging threats to the health of the Haitian people. Particularly the cholera epidemic, seemingly introduced by UN staff, has increased the population's struggle, claiming 8000 lives (cf. New York Times Editorial Board, 2013). The authors of “On‐the‐Ground‐Realities” show that in fact “the earthquake did not magically transform Haiti, despite Clinton's cheerful slogan of ‘building back better’” (p. 95). It is indeed questionable to which extent the earthquake can be understood as an opportunity for most Haitians. Instead, for instance, historic dynamics of political and economic exclusion of the country's rural population have been carried forward after January 2010, ignoring that “Haiti isn’t Port‐au‐Prince. The majority of the population lives in a rural and peasant setting” (Jean‐Baptiste 2012, p. 100). According to some contributions, among humanitarian agents, biased, even racialized discourses have been used to justify less‐than‐minimum‐standard work. Prejudices and a lack of communication between those who “serve” and the “beneficiaries” have furthermore led to highly differing perceptions of the provided services.

The third and final part, “Emerging movements”, portrays the implications and responsibilities of the earthquake for the national political arena, both domestically as well as in the “onzième département”, the Haitian Diaspora. The latter has achieved first political success in Washington by lobbying for more transparent humanitarian aid; different other groups have been able to play an important role in the reconstruction phase and will likely continue to do so (cf. Charlotin 2012). By taking into account the important local peasant and grassroots movements, this chapter supplements the portrait of Haiti's vulnerable population by an illustration of its strengths and historical activism – the successful revolution in 1804 being among its earliest manifestations. Also the end of the Duvalier era in 1986 is presented as the result of a “quiet revolution,” rather than that of the US intervention (p. 213). The 2010 elections however were, according to several authors, “another disaster that befell the country” (Blot 2012, p. 197), held prematurely and controlled by MINUSTAH, “a game of the imperialists and their domestic servant, Haiti's dominant class” (p. 196).

Thanks to the contributors’ varied backgrounds, Tectonic Shifts provides a holistic and insightful view on the complex, multi‐level processes and takes those perspectives into account which have rather been neglected by other analyses. It furthermore successfully dismantles several dominant discourses on Haiti. For instance, while images of chaos and looting dominated in media coverage after the earthquake in 2010, first‐hand reports such as Carine Exantus’ (2012) “Diary of a survivor in Haiti” (p. 113) testify to the degree of solidarity among neighbors and friends, as well as on the other hand to the insufficient and unequally distributed aid provided days and months after the earthquake, some of which even exacerbated social inequalities. Likewise, Jean‐Baptiste (2012, p. 97) shows the enormous solidarity of the Haitian peasants who accommodated half a million people who had fled to the countryside after having lost their houses and loved ones in Port‐au‐Prince's or Léogâne's rubbles, while media attention was focusing on and praising the work of foreign actors.

Tectonic Shifts looks beyond common preconceptions of Haiti and shows the underlying reasons for the disastrous consequences of an earthquake, which elsewhere likely would have been a lot less severe. Readers of this book will become more keenly aware of political grievances which only become evident on closer examination. Furthermore, albeit often with a sharp tongue, it convincingly sets forth why the earthquake or hurricanes have by far not been the only disasters which have struck the country. Unfortunately, the “recurrent theme” of this book continues as can be observed in recent developments in Haiti. Meanwhile, since its publication in 2012, several other essays would need to be added. For instance, due to a lack of basic means and supplies the aforementioned cholera epidemic has worsened, while the UN have referred to their immunity when asked for compensation (cf. New York Times Editorial Board, 2013).

About the author

Angela Wagner is a Master's degree student of human geography at the University of Mainz, Germany. In her thesis, she analyzes the resilience of rural upstream watershed communities based on fieldwork in Northeastern Haiti.

Pursuing a French‐German study program, which included studies in France and Québec (Bishop's University), she achieved her Licence (B.A.) in Geography as well as in French Philology from University of Burgundy (Dijon/France).

During an internship with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, she supported neo‐geography endeavours within the information management team. Part of her tasks were related to the Haiti earthquake as well as to the 2010 floods in Pakistan.

In 2011, she interned with the United Nations Platform for Space‐based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (SPIDER), supporting the Knowledge Portal, as well as with the United Nations University, where she contributed to a research project which had as its focus environmental challenges and human impact in Eastern Africa.

Her additional working experience include a (two‐and‐a‐half‐year) student assistant position at the Department of International Relations, Institute of Political Science at Mainz University, where she contributed to the successful establishment of a tri‐national Master's program. Angela Wagner can be contacted at: nglwgnr@gmail.com

References

Blot, J.‐Y. (2012), “The November 28, 2010, elections. Another catastrophe for Haiti”, in Schuller, M. and Morales, P. (Eds), Tectonic Shifts. Haiti Since the Earthquake, Kumarian Press, Sterling, VI, pp. 195199.

Charlotin, M. (2012), “The Haitian diaspora. Supporting reconstruction from the centers of power”, in Schuller, M. and Morales, P. (Eds), Tectonic Shifts. Haiti Since the Earthquake, Kumarian Press, Sterling, VI, pp. 208212.

Exantus, C. (2012), “Diary of a survivor in Haiti”, in Schuller, M. and Morales, P. (Eds), Tectonic Shifts. Haiti Since the Earthquake, Kumarian Press, Sterling, VI, pp. 113117.

Jean‐Baptiste, C. (2012), “Haiti's earthquake. A further insult to peasants’ lives”, in Schuller, M. and Morales, P. (Eds), Tectonic Shifts. Haiti Since the Earthquake, Kumarian Press, Sterling, VI, pp. 97100.

New York Times Editorial Board (2013), “A worsening Haitian tragedy”, March 17, available at: www.nytimes.com/2013/03/18/opinion/a‐worsening‐haitian‐tragedy.html (accessed March 18, 2013).

Oliver‐Smith, A. (2012), “Haiti's 500‐year earthquake”, in Schuller, M. and Morales, P. (Eds), Tectonic Shifts. Haiti Since the Earthquake, Kumarian Press, Sterling, VI, pp. 1823.

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