[Marxism] 29th February - The first anniversary of Aristide's overthrow

[Rowan Wilson <rowanwilsonwork@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

February 29th is the first (literal) anniversary of the last time that Aristide 
was overthrown as President of Haiti. Peter Hallwardâs new book provides the 
inside account of events leading up to the coup, and their legacy.
 
Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment 
By Peter Hallward
UK publication: February 2008
US publication: April 2008
Paperback: ISBN 978 1 84467 106 9/ Â16.99/ $29.95/ $37.50 CAN
Hardback: ISBN 978 1 84467 106 9/ Â66.99/ $110.00/ $121.00 CAN

âVery convincing, a marvellous book. This riveting and deeply-informed 
account should be carefully read by those who recognize that Haitiâs tragic 
history is a microcosm of imperial savagery and heroic resistance â 
resistance which, as Hallward argues, will continue to shape Haitiâs 
political future if its people are granted the opportunity to take their fate 
into their own hands.â âNoam Chomsky
 
Once the most lucrative European colony in the Caribbean, Haiti has long been 
one of the most divided and impoverished countries in the world. In the late 
1980s a remarkable popular mobilization known as Lavalas, or âthe flood,â 
sought to liberate the island from decades of US-backed dictatorial rule. After 
winning a landslide election victory, in 1991 the Lavalas government led by 
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was overthrown by a bloody military coup. 
âDamming the Floodâ analyzes how and why Aristideâs enemies in Haiti, the 
US and France made sure that his second government, elected with another 
overwhelming majority in 2000, was toppled by a further coup in 2004. The 
elaborate international campaign to contain, discredit and then overthrow 
Lavalas at the start of the twenty-first century was perhaps the most 
successful act of imperial sabotage since the end of the Cold War. Its 
execution and its impact have much to teach anyone interested
 in the development of todayâs political struggles in Latin America and the 
rest of the post-colonial world.
 
AUTHOR
Peter Hallward teaches at the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy 
at Middlesex University in the UK. Before moving to Middlesex he taught for 
several years in the French department at Kingâs College London. His research 
ranges across several debates in recent continental philosophy and the 
reception of post-colonial literature; he also works on some of the obstacles 
currently facing progressive political movements in various parts of the world. 
âDamming the Floodâ is his fourth book, after âAbsolutely 
Postcolonialâ, âBadiou: A Subject to Truthâ, and âOut of this World: 
Deleuze and the Philosophy of Creationâ.
 
Available from good bookshops and from the following:
http://www.versobooks.com/books/ghij/h-titles/hallward_p_haiti.shtml
  
In the UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Damming-Flood-Aristide-Politics-Containment/dp/1844671062/ref=ed_oe_p?ie=UTF8&qid=1197385286&sr=1-1
  
In the US:
http://www.haitiliberte.com/damming.php.
http://www.amazon.com/Damming-Flood-Aristide-Politics-Containment/dp/1844671062/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204216563&sr=1-1
 
 

Peter Hallwardâs other articles and interviews about Haiti include:
 *        âDid He Jump or Was He Pushed? Aristide and the 2004 Coup in 
Haitiâ, published in eight instalments in HaÃti LibertÃ, October-November 
2007, www.haitilibertÃ.com <http://www.haitilibertÃ.com/> ; available online 
at 
http://www.haitianalysis.com/2007/12/7/did-he-jump-or-was-he-pushed-aristide-and-the-2004-coup-in-haiti.
 *        âIf Stones Could Float: The British Press and the Turks and Caicos 
Boat Disasterâ, Radical Philosophy 145 (September 2007), 53-55. The complete 
version of this text is available online at 
http://haitianalysis.com/2007/9/4/if-stones-could-float-the-british-press-and-the-turks-and-caicos-boat-disaster.
 *        âAristide and the Violence of Democracyâ [review of Alex Dupuy, 
The Prophet and Power, 2007], published in three instalments in Haiti Libertà 
numbers 1-3, July 2007; online at 
http://www.haitianalysis.com/2007/8/18/hallward-reviews-dupuy-s-the-prophet-and-power-jean-bertrand-aristide-the-international-community-and-haiti.
 *        âInsurgency and Betrayal: An Interview with Guy Philippeâ, 
HaitiAnalysis 23 March 2007, 
http://www.haitianalysis.com/2007/3/25/insurgency-and-betrayal-an-interview-with-guy-philippe.
 *        âOne Step at a Time: An Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristideâ, 
London Review of Books 29:4 (22 February 2007, 
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n04/hall02_.html). The complete English transcript is 
available online at 
http://www.haitianalysis.com/2007/2/18/%E2%80%98one-step-at-a-time%E2%80%99-an-interview-with-jean-bertrand-aristide
 and in French at http://narconews.com/Issue45/article_fr2559.html.
 *        âOption Zero in Haiti,â New Left Review 27 (May 2004), 23-47. 
http://www.newleftreview.net/NLR26102.shtml 
 *        âHaitian Inspiration: Notes on the Bicentenary of Independence,â 
Radical Philosophy 123 (January 2004), 2-7. 
http://www.radicalphilosophy.com/default.asp?channel_id=2187&editorial_id=14344 
[Spanish translation in MetapolÃtica 36 (August 2004): 
http://www.metapolitica.com.mx/36/vimpresa/dossier/09.htm].

Contact: 
zahrak@xxxxxxxxxxx
www.versobooks.com


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