With the collapse of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986 came optimistic hopes for a transition toward a sound democracy, accompanied by economic development and social peace--a vision which has failed to materialize in the past 15 years. A native of Haiti, Fatton (government, U. of Virginia) analyzes Haitian politics from 1986 to 2001, revealing the complications and conflicts which have slowed the country's progress toward an effective democracy. The author also explores alternatives which could lead the country toward success. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Democratic Insecurities focuses on the ethics of military and humanitarian intervention in Haiti during and after Haiti's 1991 coup. In this remarkable ethnography of violence, Erica Caple James explores the traumas of Haitian victims whose experiences were denied by U.S. officials and recognized only selectively by other humanitarian providers. Using vivid first-person accounts from women survivors, James raises important new questions about humanitarian aid, structural violence, and political insecurity. She discusses the politics of postconflict assistance to Haiti and the challenges of promoting democracy, human rights, and justice in societies that experience chronic insecurity. Similarly, she finds that efforts to promote political development and psychosocial rehabilitation may fail because of competition, strife, and corruption among the individuals and institutions that implement such initiatives.

The stories of Haiti and the Haitian people have often been filtered through the sensibilities of those who are not of that nation nor of African ancestry. Haitian people deserve the opportunity to tell their authentic stories of their lived realities. This study presents the stories of a small group of Haitian young people under the age of 40 who incorporated their passions into viable work to improve economic circumstances for themselves, their communities, and their country. Based upon narrative inquiry, data collection included interviews, observations, and documents gathered in Haiti. The results produced a complex portrait of participants who embraced opportunities and mitigated obstacles as best as they were able. Participants also offered suggestions for effective partnerships with INGOs. Despite frustration with the negative media images projected onto Haitians from the global community, the participants expressed a distinct love of their country and desire for respect from the rest of the world. Overall, this study's participants offered a sense of joy in their Haitian identity and an understanding that their individual and collective success would contribute to Haiti's standing in the world.

The 111th issue of the magazine of Africa and the Diaspora, featuring fiction, poetry, art, and essays focused on the black world. Published three times per year by Indiana University Press for the Hutchins Center at Harvard University, Transition is a unique forum for the freshest, most compelling ideas from and about the black world. Since its founding in Uganda in 1961, the magazine has kept apace of the rapid transformation of the African Diaspora and has remained a leading forum of intellectual debate. In issue 111, Transition focuses on “New Narratives of Haiti.” Guest editors Laurent Dubois and Kaiama L. Glover have invited contributors to think about the world in ways that place Haiti at its center. Thought pieces by Madison Smartt Bell, Jonathan Katz, Gina Athena Ulysse and others, as well as translations of Franketienne, Lyonel Trouillot, and Michel-Rolph Trouillot, dispel trenchant cliches that have long plagued representations of Haiti in literature and scholarship. This issue also includes Jamaica Kincaid’s poignant memories of a brother lost to AIDS, and a scholar’s chance discovery of cultural (and genealogical?) links between Cuba and Sierra Leone. Exceptional poetry, fiction, and review essays also take us beyond Haiti to San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, and Renaissance Europe.