Book Description
Does the scientific "theory" that HIV came to North America from Haiti stem from underlying attitudes of racism and ethnocentrism in the United States rather than from hard evidence? Anthropologist-physician Paul Farmer answers in the affirmative with this, the first full-length ethnographic study of AIDS in a poor society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Reading this book will change your life
Farmer's excellent historical ethnography of Haitian illness (as seen through the contemporary context of the world AIDS epidemic), proves the necessity of developing anthropological approaches to understanding health systems and implementing medical care.The diagnosis and analysis of sickness, disease, illness, and treatment should go hand-in-hand with the cultural understanding of local systems of blame, accusation, causation, and cure.Where most approaches to medicine are based on the "Westernized" first-world nations' understanding of the causes of illness (tainted as well, as Farmer shows, by systematic "blame the victim" and shame techniques), the adoption of these approaches in treating the illnesses of other peoples can be catastrophic.Three ethnographies make up the structure of a detailed historical inquiry )

The longstanding tradition of conceiving of illness through the lens of powerlessness shapes the contemporary lives of the people in Haiti with whom Farmer worked.Although they could see the effects of the illness, people in this region were obsessed with the cause of the illness, and felt the need to understand AIDS through a constructed narrative of blame.A deep belief in their religion led villagers to look for the source of witchcraft that could possibly be harming them, and elaborate stories about neighbors, jealousies, and rivalries flourished as a result.Any improvement in the standing of one member of the society (through wealth, status, relationships, acquisition of property or food, or political power through employment or marriage) adds to the structure of distrust and blame.

Farmer's book shows how disturbingly complex and deep the layers of mistrust, misinformation, and the effects of racism, are.Among the medical hypotheses for the probable exposure is the theory of Haitian sex-workers' contacts through gay tourists to the early strains of HIV.Farmer outlines the long history of Haiti as a gay tourist attraction, and Duvalier's encouragement of tourism as a boost to the domestic economy.Although the possible cause of the gay sex trade for HIV exposure has not been confirmed, medical establishments in the U.S. based their theories of causation on other factors, such as Haitian religious practices.These theories were, in truth, reinforcing longstanding ignorance and racist misunderstandings about Haitian vodou.Stereotypes and racial profiling of Haitian citizenship as a "risk factor" (one of the "Four H's" along with hemophiliac, homosexual, and heroin user), contributed to public policies against Haitian immigrants.Haitians' belief that they are being attacked by some evil sorcery in the guise of a fatal illness called sida falls into place amidst the context of extreme antagonism and injustice.

While reading this book, I was compelled to ask myself if there isn't some truth in Haitians' understanding of AIDS as the result of malicious sorcery.Haiti was the only American society to successfully result from the direct action of a revolution against slavery and colonialism.As such, the small nation governed by creoles and black ex-slaves presented a threat to North and South American colonial societies, which were firmly entrenched in slave labor economic systems.Historically, the threat of a repeat of the Haitian revolution must have terrified white European landowners.This terror of African power and strength has been passed on in a racist legacy, adapted to political policies and nationalist agendas, and still exists in ignorant beliefs about AIDS and its causes.Haitians believe that they are victims of a longstanding racist agenda, and they may in fact be right.Farmer's book begins to illuminate some of the complicated historical and ethnographic realities of the overlapping connections between illness and racism, and between causes and effects.

One of the 4-Hs shouldn't be.
This book dispels the common myths of Haitians and AIDS. It also shows very clearly the heavy involvement of the United States in creating the poverty Haiti has faced. This book makes use of statistics well, butunfortunately, at this point those stats are many years old. When Farmerwrote this book, only three people in the village of Do Kay had died ofAIDS. Now, with huge percentages of Haitians exposed to HIV, the picturemust certainly look different. This book is a geat candidate for a revisededition some time in the future.

Informative and thought provoking
I read this book for a medical anthropology class and found it incredibly interesting in its discussion of the politics and racism involved in the US treatment of AIDS in Haiti.It delves intohow the American presence andinfluences lead to and exasperated the widespread AIDS and poverty problemsin Haiti.

Informative and thought provoking
I read this book for a medical anthropology class and found it incredibly interesting in its discussion of the politics and racism involved in the US treatment of AIDS in Haiti.It delves intohow the American presence andinfluences lead to and exasperated the widespread AIDS and poverty problemsin Haiti. ... Read more

Book Description
During two centuries of independence from colonial rule, Haiti has developed into a society quite distinct from those found in the rest of the region. Hollywood-derived images of black magic and Graham Greene-inspired conceptions of a "nightmare republic" do scant justice to the reality of life for those who make up the third largest population in the Caribbean. How did the slaves of France's most prosperous colony defeat the armies of Napoleon, Spain, and Britain? Why did the U.S. occupation of 1915-34 fail to establish a plantation economy in Haiti? Haiti in Focus is an authoritative and up-to-date guide to this fascinating country. The guide explores the land, history and politics, economy, society and people, culture and environment, and includes tips on where to go and what to see. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

great info on Haiti
really comprehensive view of politics and life in haiti. useful tips for the traveler to Haiti including where to buy condoms!

Helpful snapshot of Haiti
This book is helping me to understand the situation of Haiti in historical context.Its information, format and pictures strike me as slightly out of date but it certainly will give you a background even if not covering the last few years.Since there aren't a lot of books like this one about Haiti I would recommend this for anyone who wants to know more about it but does not want to read a long in-depth tome.

Right on focus!
You'll be fascinated, impressed, depressed, and delighted with Arthur's succinct introduction to the people, culture, and history of a small nation so very close to U.S. shores and U.S. history, yet so very far from our thoughts. From the joyful cover image to photos of brightly-painted buses to the clear maps and tips for travelers, Arthur delivers more than promised--as does Haiti herself. You'll come back for more, once you taste this brief introduction to the famed Hotel Oloffson, tap-taps and Vodou, rara and compa and rasin music, Sweet Micky & Boukman Eksperyans & Tabou Combo, the "little church" and "the flood," peasant movements and death squads, creole pigs and deforestation, poverty and structural adjustment, Toussaint Louverture & the slave revolution, the Duvalier dictatorship and the Tonton Macoutes, poetry and paintings. This book came just in time to enlighten & amaze students in my class on the prize-winning works of Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat. We all give this little book a two-thumbs-up!

Up-to-the-minute Information for Scholars and the Curious
Sometimes it's hard to be an American, and to look out at what we've done to the rest of the world.

Haiti will soon be celebrating its bicentennial of independence.As the second-oldest nation in the Western Hemisphere and the black nation with the longest uninterrupted history, it should by rights be rich, educated, forward thinking, and a bright light for the rest of the world.However, imperialist forces from abroad, including France, Britain, and most recently the United States of America, have colored its two centuries.Its people have been harangued by Castro's Cuba, Trujillo's Dominican Republic, Bush and Clinton's USA, and even the wildly corrupt Duvalier administration.Its land is stripped, its resources have been plundered, its cities are grossly overpopulated, and its seas are silted.And yet, somehow, Haiti survives.

In the wake of the 1991 coup that unseated President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the 1994 US-led UN invasion that restored him to power, much news was made.Haiti was front-page headliner material nearly every day, a prestigious international hot spot.Names were made and broken in political spheres around the Haiti issue.Debate ran high.And then everything just disappeared.Haiti merited a two-paragraph mention on page twelve if the paper needed filler, and then only in large papers that could dedicate themselves to foreign affairs.For most of us, even those of us who maintained our religious interest in the nation, an entire nation may just as well have dropped off the face of the earth.

British activist Charles Arthur, whose other works on Haiti include "A Haitian Anthology: Libète," identifies himself as a "Solidarity Activist."His latest book, "Haiti in Focus," is subtitled "A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture," and it lives up to that description admirably.For those interested, the available information is brought up to date through the middle of 2001.Arthur details the current political struggles surrounding the election of Aristide to another term in office; he lets us know about the struggle between Protestant missionaries and vodou adherents for control of the site at which the Haitian Revolution began; and he even gives us pointers on how to tour the country.

This slim, easy-to-read book is deceptively clear.It focuses on what Haiti is today, and on the forces that have made it so.Arthur posits no blame for what's happened to the country; yet observant reading serves to point out several recurrent patterns.Currently, the United States has been trying to micromanage the Haitian economy to the advantage of America, and indeed has been using the Monroe Doctrine as an excuse to do so for some time.This has been happening in force through the last century, though it can be traced overtly to 1862, when the US recognized the country's sovereignty, and more covertly back to Haitian independence, when the US refused to recognize a free black nation.

America is not alone in this treatment, however.Britain immediately recognized Haiti's independence, but apparently only for political advantage and access to the profitable plantations.When the plantation economy went the way of all flesh, Britain appears to have just walked away.France held recognition for ransom, offering it only when Haiti paid massive war indemnities that left the country in financial ruin from which it hasn't fully recovered.The United Nations and the Organization of American States have consistently tried to co-opt Haiti's foreign policy and dictate domestic positions, and the European Union, primarily under pressure from France, is now trying to horn in on Haitian self-determination.As Arthur explains, Haiti remains a small force, battered on all sides by winds it cannot satisfactorily resist.

The country is also riven internally.Though all involved want the country to flourish and thrive, wildly dissimilar ideas persist as to what would make this happen.Christian missionaries, primarily Catholic and Evangelical Protestant, have brought their faith to the country, but even Jesus Himself hasn't preserved the country.Aristide and his coalition have concrete ideas for how to use the government to resolve problems, but his plans are controversial and have stirred up strong negative feelings.Education is usually severely inadequate because of the lack of skilled teachers, disagreements over the importance of French, and the high cost of schooling in a poor nation.Meanwhile, poverty is swelling, illiteracy remains rampant, and nothing is being done about it.

However, in Arthur's estimation, Haiti remains a culturally vibrant land, a noble nation resisting the homogeneity of Western-styled "globalization."The native art, music, and religion of the land are the most African in the Western Hemisphere, and are a celebration of life in the face of poverty.A full-color photo spread in the middle of the book shows the beauty that accrues to everything in the country-the way a tap-tap driver will paint rainbows on the side of his vehicle; the way rara musicians will dance down the street during a festival.Though this is a country damaged and struggling, Arthur makes plain, this is not a country to give up on, not a country to permit to die.

This book is detailed enough to appeal to those intimately interested in Haiti, either those who appreciate the whole nation or those interested in one or two aspects.At the same time, it's clear enough in style and structure to reach out to readers who are being newly introduced to Haiti, and to those who know only the horror stories that recur in motion pictures and the news.Though it will date quickly, for the moment it stands as a strong primer for the condition that is Haiti and a land working for healing in a world that only wants to use it as a tool. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is the compilation of a 5-year computer research project on HAITI by Antoine Boulos at the University of Southern California, School of Architecture in Los Angeles, CA. This research project, under the guidance of Professor Charles Steve Dwyer and with the collaboration of Architect Ngok Lung Ha, is a compilation of more than 8,000,000 numbers that were analysed and digitized into the system. The project goal was to divide Haiti in cells of 1 km², followed by the recording, per square kilometer, of more than 25 land characteristics such as topography, ecology, precipitations, geology, lithology, vegetal cover, population, roads... These informations were then analysed and superimposed to produce new data for Haiti such as:

3-Dimensional Views of Haiti / Slope Map / Aspect Map/ Drainage Map / Elevations Map / Solar Exposure Maps/ Visibily Studies / Agricultural Potential maps for more than 20 crops and much more.

The book is very graphical and contains more than 60 glossy maps of Haiti. Each map represented is acompanied by a reference page showing results & statistics relating to that map. The legend on the maps is in english (on the map) and in french (on the statistic page). Although written in french, the graphical nature of the book make it accessible to any non-french speaking individual. ... Read more

Book Description
Describes Haiti, its history, geography, people, and customs. ... Read more

Book Description
Centuries of corrupt government have led many people to assume that the actions of the State are responsible for the present Haitian economic crisis. This assumption is strengthened by the very recent memory of the infamous Papa Doc Duvalier's regime. But is Haiti's underdevelopment purely a result of the actions of government, or is it--as some believe--a result of market operations?

It is precisely this question that Politics or Markets? sets out to examine. Mats Lundahl offers a thorough analysis, set within a historical framework, of how political and economic factors have contributed to the current state of underdevelopment. The book offers a broad panorama of both economic and political factors contributing to the crisis, as well as an in-depth analysis of the role of markets and politics. The popular responses to the crisis are also examined, with an outline of possible future prospects for Haiti.