From Revolution to Chaos in Haiti (1804-2019)

About the Book

Haiti is a failing state. The country is still unable to provide basic needs such as employment, food, housing, healthcare and education to a majority of its inhabitants in over two centuries after its revolution and Independence of 1804. Relatively incompetent, both the nation’s government and its opposition ignore moral politics, and instead, focus on corruption and fighting each other. Though free from French rule, the country remains tied to its slave past and violent history. It seems like a socioeconomic and urban consensus cannot be achieved in order to carry out sustainable solutions for the people. This book, From Revolution to Chaos in Haiti, 1804-2019: Urban Problems and Redevelopment Straregies, is an attempt to analyze this situation from a historical perspective. First, the Haitian Revolution of 1804 is displayed to show the violent and bloody struggles of outstanding leaders and warriors against colonial powers for the making of a great political and independent nation. Second, Haiti’s decline is analyzed starting from the assassination of its first leader, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, in 1806 to the country’s bottom rank in the global stratification during the 2010’s along with the impact of the catastrophic 2010 earthquake. The main factors noted within this decline are linguistic, agricultural, urban and (HIV, AIDS, TB) healthcare issues and undercapitalization along with ideological confusions (capitalism, neoliberalism, socialism, social democracy) and political instability.

About the Author

Rhodner J. Orisma is the head of the Department of Philosophy and Political Science at IERAH-ISERSS, Université d’Etat d’Haiti (UEH). There, he also teaches sociology and methodology at the undergraduate level. Since October 2018, he has served as an adjunct professor in the University’s master’s program, Urbanisation et Aménagement du Territoire (URBATER-FDS), provided by UEH and both Universities of Mons and Liège, Belgium. His undergraduate and graduate work were in African Studies at UEH, Sociology and Anthropology at Université Nationale du Bénin and Florida International University, and Human Services at Capella University. Rhodner also served as site coordinator for a Tuberculosis research program carried out by the University of South Florida. He has participated in various panel discussions and research programs regarding urbanization and development through the academic, public and private sectors in Haiti. He published his first book, Haiti through Revolution, Chaos and Reconstruction Perspectives in 2009 and has gone on to publish several articles related to urbanization and development in the Haitian daily newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti since the January 2010 earthquake.