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This important book provides a critical reinterpretation of the Haitian Revolution and its aftermath. Alex Dupuy evaluates the French colonial context of Saint-Domingue and then Haiti, the achievements and limitations of the revolution, and the divisions in the Haitian ruling class that blocked meaningful economic and political development.
List of contents
Foreword
Robert Fatton Jr.
Acknowledgments
Author Note
Introduction
1 Capitalism and Slavery: Revisiting an Old Debate
2 Masters, Slaves, and Revolution in Saint-Domingue: A Critique of the Hegelian Interpretation
3 From Saint-Domingue to Haiti: Revolution and the Rise of a New Bourgeoisie
4 Property, Debt, and Development: Rethinking the Indemnity Question
Bibliography
About the Author
About the author
Alex Dupuy is John E. Andrus Professor of Sociology Emeritus at Wesleyan University. His books include Haiti in the World Economy: Class, Race, and Underdevelopment since 1700; Haiti in the New World Order: The Limits of the Democratic Revolution; The Prophet and Power: Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the International Community, and Haiti; and Haiti: From Revolutionary Slaves to Powerless Citizens.
Summary
This important book provides a critical reinterpretation of the Haitian Revolution and its aftermath. Alex Dupuy evaluates the French colonial context of Saint-Domingue and then Haiti, the achievements and limitations of the revolution, and the divisions in the Haitian ruling class that blocked meaningful economic and political development.
Additional text
A trenchant assessment of the only successful slave revolution in the Western Hemisphere, this book offers a radical approach that is foregrounded in the relationship between capitalism and slavery in the French colony of Saint Domingue. Alex Dupuy cogently dismantles contemporary arguments about Haiti being the source of inspiration for Hegel’s concept of the master-slave dialectic. In addition, the book also provides an erudite and highly nuanced analysis of the practice of race, class, color, and national belonging in Haiti in the aftermath of the Revolution. This volume is important reading for all students of Haitian and Caribbean history and society.
