Synopses & Reviews
Once the most lucrative European colony in the Caribbean, Haiti has long been one of the most divided and impoverished countries in the world. In the late 1980s a remarkable popular mobilization known as Lavalas, or 'the flood,' sought to liberate the island from decades of US-backed dictatorial rule. After winning a landslide election victory, in 1991 the Lavalas government led by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown by a bloody military coup.
Damming the Floodanalyzes how and why Aristide"s enemies in Haiti, the US and France made sure that his second government, elected with another overwhelming majority in 2000, was toppled by a further coup in 2004.
The elaborate international campaign to contain, discredit and then overthrow Lavalas at the start of the twenty-first century was perhaps the most successful act of imperial sabotage since the end of the Cold War. Its execution and its impact have much to teach anyone interested in the development of today's political struggles in Latin America and the rest of the post-colonial world.
Review
"A detailed account of the 'democratic containment' of Haiti's radical politics in the past two decades ... an outstanding book." Slavoj Žižek
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"An excellent book ... the first accurate analysis of recent Haitian history, and of its history in the making." The New Statesman
Synopsis
Formerly the most lucrative European colony in the Caribbean, Haiti has long been one of the most divided and impoverished countries in the world—a fact made clear by the disastrous effects of the earthquake in January 2010, which triggered another US military operation. Damming the Flood analyzes the American and French role in the violent overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. The suppression of the remarkable popular mobilization known as Lavalas, or “the flood,” was perhaps the most successful act of imperial sabotage since the end of the Cold War. Updated with a new afterword that covers the international response to the earthquake, Damming the Floodis both an invaluable history of Haiti and a crucial account of America’s twenty- first-century imperialism.
Synopsis
“A marvelous book ... riveting and deeply informed.”—Noam Chomsky
Synopsis
A riveting expos of the US-led destruction of democratic government in Haiti.
Synopsis
“A marvelous book ... riveting and deeply informed.”—Noam Chomsky
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
Peter Hallward teaches at the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University, London, and is the author of books on Badiou and Deleuze.