Fault Lines: Views across Haiti’s Divide

258 Pages·2013·1.33 MB·English

by  Beverly Bell

Fault Lines

Fault Lines
Views across Haiti’s Divide
(cid:2)
Beverly Bell
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2013 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2013 by Cornell University Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2013
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bell, Beverly, 1962–
Fault lines : views across Haiti’s divide / Beverly Bell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8014-5212-3 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBN 978-0-8014-7769-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Earthquake relief—Haiti. 2. Haiti Earthquake, Haiti, 2010.
3. Haiti—Social conditions—21st century. 4. Haiti—Economic
conditions—21st century. I. Title.
HV600 2010. H2 B45 2013
972.9407'3—dc23 2012039141
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers
and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books.
Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers
that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood
fi bers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.
cornell.edu.
Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Paperback printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Bryan Bell,
Antoine Adrien,
and Magalie Marcelin
—their lives and their legacies—
Onè respè. Honor and respect.

Disaster shocks us out of slumber,
but only skillful effort keeps us awake.
Rebecca Solnit, A Paradise Built in Hell:
The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster

Contents
Foreword by Edwidge Danticat xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction: Thirty-Five Seconds 1
1. We Don’t Have Enough Water to Make Tears: Surviving
the Earthquake, or Not 12
2. What We Have, We Share: Solidarity Undergirds Rescue
and Relief 19
3. Pearl of the Antilles: The Political Economy of Peril 27
4. Maroon Man: Social Movements throughout History 32
5. We Will Carry You On: The Women’s Movement 41
6. You Can’t Eat Okra with One Finger: Community-Run
Humanitarian Aid 49
7. Fragile as a Crystal (Tales from Three Months Out) 57
8. Children of the Land: Small Farmers and Agriculture 63