CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2011
| Author | Evans, Meredith Glendyre Brown |
|---|---|
| Title | The "Island of the Damned": Gender Violence in Haiti and the Politics of Development Aid |
| Summary | In wake of the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country, Haiti instantly became the subject of an international conversation. Governments and individuals from around the globe were quick to offer assistance to the crippled state. Led by Western nations, the international response to the disaster framed Haiti as a particular kind of tragic place: an earthquake-ravaged state that lost all control over its citizens and subsequently witnessed highly-sexualized and aggressive men victimize defenseless women and girls. This thesis considers sexual politics at the centre of international motivations surrounding the restructuring of Haiti. Analyzing media representations from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, as well as information from state governments, the United Nations and international non-governmental organizations, this thesis problematizes normative depictions of Haiti implicit within international discourses on development aid and gender violence post-earthquake. Haiti, as a “Third World” state, is framed as in need of development aid from Western nations and this framing constructs particular representations of gender violence, citizens and places. Drawing on the works of Michel Foucault, Edward Said, Michel-Rolph Trouillot, and Gayatri Spivak among others, this thesis argues that contemporary representations of Haiti are framed in accordance with a post-colonial “Othering.” Binarized with developed and safe Western countries inhabited by rational and respectful citizens, Haiti is represented as an underdeveloped and dangerous place that can only be purged through a reconstruction of a safe “private” space and a properly control “public,” a reconstruction that only international development aid is positioned to provide. |
| Supervisor | Renkin, Hadley |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2011/evans_meredith.pdf |
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