The Prophet and Power: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the International Community, and Haiti / Edition 1

by Alex Dupuy Wesleyan University, Franck Laraque

Overview

This compelling book offers a comprehensive analysis of the struggle for democracy in Haiti, set in the context of the tumultuous rise and fall of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Swept to power in 1991 as the champion of Haiti's impoverished majority and their demand for a more just, equal, and participatory democratic society, the charismatic priest-turned-president was overthrown by the military just seven months into his first term. Popular resistance to the junta compelled the United States to lead a multinational force to restore Aristide to power in 1994 to serve out the remainder of his presidency until 1996. When he was re-elected for a second and final term in 2000, Aristide had undergone a dramatic transformation. Expelled from the priesthood and no longer preaching liberation theology, his real objective was to consolidate his and his Lavalas party's power and preserve the predatory state structures he had vowed to dismantle just a decade earlier. To maintain power, Aristide relied on armed gangs, the police, and authoritarian practices. That strategy failed and his foreign-backed foes overthrew and exiled him once again in 2004. This time, however, the population did not rally in his defense. Written by one of the world's leading scholars of Haiti, The Prophet and Power explores the crisis of democratization in a poor, underdeveloped, peripheral society with a long history of dictatorial rule by a tiny ruling class opposed to changing the status quo and dependent on international economic and political support. Situating the country in its global context, Alex Dupuy considers the structures and relations of power between Haiti and the core capitalist countries and the forces struggling for and against social change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742538313
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/07/2006
Series:	Critical Currents in Latin American Perspective Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	6.08(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Alex Dupuy is professor of sociology at Wesleyan University.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Foreward Chapter 2 Globalization, the "New World Order Imperialism," and Haiti Chapter 3 Before Aristide: Class Power, State Power, and the Duvalier Dictatorships, 1957-1990. Chapter 4 The Prophet Armed: The Popular Movement for Democracy and the Rise of Jean-Bertrand Aristide Chapter 5 The Prophet Disarmed: The First Lavalas Government and Its Overthrow Chapter 6 The Prophet Checkmated: The Political Opposition and the Low-Intensity War against Aristide Chapter 7 Post Vastes: The Second Overthrow of Aristide and the Pacification of Haiti

Editorial Reviews

A meticulously researched text.. .. The Prophet and Power is a key source for understanding the intricate set of factors that contributed to the dynamics of this turbulent period and an important contribution to Haitian and Caribbean studies.

Caribbean Studies

Dupuy, a recognized authority on Haiti, tracks the island's troubled transition to democracy up to the present.. .. This is well-written: an important book with a clear theoretical orientation. Highly recommended.

Choice Reviews

An important, original, and comprehensive contribution to the literature on contemporary Haitian politics in particular, and on democratization and globalization in general. Dupuy elucidates with intelligence the Aristide phenomenon and does an excellent job in showing how both domestic and international forces intersected to generate the current crisis.

Robert Fatton Jr

An important, original, and comprehensive contribution to the literature on contemporary Haitian politics in particular, and on democratization and globalization in general. Dupuy elucidates with intelligence the Aristide phenomenon and does an excellent job in showing how both domestic and international forces intersected to generate the current crisis.

Robert Fatton

A meticulously researched text.. .. The Prophet and Power is a key source for understanding the intricate set of factors that contributed to the dynamics of this turbulent period and an important contribution to Haitian and Caribbean studies.

January-June 2009 Caribbean Studies

Dupuy, a recognized authority on Haiti, tracks the island's troubled transition to democracy up to the present.. .. This is well-written: an important book with a clear theoretical orientation. Highly recommended.

Choice

Dupuy, a recognized authority on Haiti, tracks the island's troubled transition to democracy up to the present.. .. This is well-written: an important book with a clear theoretical orientation. Highly recommended.

CHOICE

An important, original, and comprehensive contribution to the literature on contemporary Haitian politics in particular, and on democratization and globalization in general. Dupuy elucidates with intelligence the Aristide phenomenon and does an excellent job in showing how both domestic and international forces intersected to generate the current crisis.--Robert Fatton, Jr., University of Virginia

Dupuy, a recognized authority on Haiti, tracks the island's troubled transition to democracy up to the present. . . . This is well-written: an important book with a clear theoretical orientation. Highly recommended.--CHOICE

A meticulously researched text. . . . The Prophet and Power is a key source for understanding the intricate set of factors that contributed to the dynamics of this turbulent period and an important contribution to Haitian and Caribbean studies.--Caribbean Studies, January-June 2009

From the Publisher