CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2010
| Author | Hartwig, Catalin Johanna |
|---|---|
| Title | Letting Silences Speak: Deconstructing the Discourse of Rebuilding in Post-earthquake Haiti |
| Summary | On January 12, 2010, a devastating earthquake hit Haiti, a small island in the Caribbean, causing the death of approximately 300,000 people. Although the international community responded with immediate emergency relief, international disaster assistance has been criticized for failing to meet the demand of the victims, as well as militarizing the situation, reflected in the deployment of US and UN military. In other words, post-earthquake relief in Haiti has been framed in terms of humanitarian benevolence and development needs however, practices on the ground associated with an extensive securitization of the situation as well as an ‘intervention’, due to long-term engagement envisioning radical reforms. Therefore, it has to be asked how these practices, suggesting the political and economic subjugation of Haiti, are legitimized. What is the underlying rationale that informs these instances? This thesis analyzes the construction of the dominant discourse in Haiti to reveal the production of power relations. Using the Foucauldian concept of governmentality as my theoretical framework, I will unravel the inclusionary/exclusionary mechanisms forming and structuring discourse in post-earthquake Haiti to understand the implementation of these programs. Paying particular attention to silences, I argue that rationalities of the so-called ‘international community’ go beyond humanitarian and development concerns but are informed by security and economic considerations. The adoption of a neoliberal rationale to the disaster in Haiti causes practices which support the notion of political control and economic exploitation, and reproduce global structures of inequality. |
| Supervisor | Michael Merlingen |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2010/hartwig_catalin.pdf |
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