[Bloquez l'empire!] May 31: Lancement de livre / Book Launch - DAMMING THE FLOOD by Peter Hallward

[Nik Barry-Shaw]

*** Lancement de livre / Book Launch ***

DAMMING THE FLOOD
Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment
by Peter Hallward

* deux événements / two events *

15h samedi le 31 mai
Centro Cultural Simon Bolivar
(394 rue de Maisonneuve O.)
Métro Place-des-Arts
(en français)

Un conférence de Peter Hallward, auteur de "Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment" publié par Verso, et Paul Loulou Chery, secrétaire général de la Confédération de Travailleurs Haïtiens (CTH).

Des copies de DAMMING THE FLOOD vont être disponible à l'événement à prix réduit.  Organisé par Haïti Action Montréal et commandité par Rabble.ca. 


7:30 pm Saturday May 31
@ VOLVER Café Culturel
5604 Avenue du Parc
(between St. Viateur and Bernard)
$3 or free with the purchase of a book 
(in English)

Author Peter Hallward will be present for the Montreal launch of "Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment" published by Verso Books, to discuss the Haitian people's democratic struggles and the efforts of the "international community" to contain them.  Copies of "Damming the Flood" will be available for a discounted price.   Organized by Haiti Action Montreal and sponsored by Rabble.ca.

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[English below]

Des critiques élogieuses de DAMMING THE FLOOD :

« La meilleure étude de son genre. » - Dr. Paul Farmer
« Un compte rendu fascinant et très fouillé. » - Noam Chomsky

Autrefois l'une des colonies européennes les plus lucratives des Antilles, Haïti est depuis longtemps un des pays les plus pauvres et les plus divisés du monde. A la fin des années 80, un remarquable mouvement populaire, connu sous le nom de Lavalas ou encore "Le déluge", a cherché à libérer l'île de décennies d'un régime dictatorial soutenu par les USA. Après une large victoire électorale en 1991, le gouvernement Lavalas, mené par le Président Jean-Bertrand Aristide, fut renversé par un sanglant coup d'état militaire. DAMMING THE FLOOD analyse pourquoi et comment les ennemis d'Aristide en Haïti, le Canada, la France et les USA, se sont assurés que son deuxième gouvernement, élu avec une écrasante majorité en 2000, soit renversé par un autre coup d'état en 2004.

La minutieuse campagne internationale visant à maîtriser, discréditer et enfin renverser Lavalas au début du 21ème siècle a probablement été une des actions de sabotage impérial les plus réussies depuis la fin de la Guerre Froide. Sa réalisation et son impact ont beaucoup à apprendre à quiconque s'intéressant au développement des luttes politiques d'aujourd'hui en Amérique Latine et dans le reste du monde post-colonial.

Peter Hallward est un professeur de Philosophie Moderne Européenne à l'université du Middlesex en Angleterre. Ses recherches concernent plusieurs débats récents en philosophie continentale et la réception de la littérature postcoloniale; il travaille également sur certains des obstacles rencontrés par les mouvements politiques progressistes autour du monde. "Damming the Flood" est son quatrième livre, après "Absolutely Postcolonial" (2001), "Badiou: A Subject to Truth" (2003), et "Out of this world: Deleuze and the Philosophy of Creation" (2006).

www.versobooks.com

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Praise for DAMMING THE FLOOD:

Very convincing, a marvellous book. This riveting and deeply-informed account should be carefully read by those who recognize that Haiti's tragic history is a microcosm of imperial savagery and heroic resistance – resistance which, as Hallward argues, will continue to shape Haiti's political future if its people are granted the opportunity to take their fate into their own hands.
  - Noam Chomsky

Damming the Flood is an excellent book, the best study of its kind. It offers the first accurate analysis of recent Haitian history, and of its history in the making. Finally, we have an honest rendering of how the Haitian poor sought to advance their struggle for dignity at the close of the twentieth century, and of the forces that have stymied their struggle. Hallward's new book is required reading for anyone who seeks to know Haiti and to understand the forces arrayed against all those who believe in genuine democracy.
  - Dr. Paul Farmer

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 “the flood,” 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. DAMMING THE FLOOD analyzes how and why Aristide’s enemies in Haiti, the US, Canada 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 today's political struggles in Latin America and the rest of the post-colonial world.

Peter Hallward is Professor of Modern European Philosophy at Middlesex University in the UK. His research ranges across several debates in recent continental philosophy and the reception of postcolonial literature; he also works on some of the obstacles currently facing progressive political movements in various parts of the world. Damming the Flood is his fourth book, after Absolutely Postcolonial (2001), Badiou: A Subject to Truth (2003), and Out of this World: Deleuze and the Philosophy of Creation (2006).

www.versobooks.com

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Articles on Haiti by Peter Hallward:

Option Zero in Haiti (New Left Review)
http://newleftreview.org/A2507

Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide (London Review of Books)
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n04/hall02_.html

Haitian inspiration: On the bicentenary of Haiti’s independence (Radical Philosophy)
http://www.radicalphilosophy.com/default.asp?channel_id=2187&editorial_id=14344

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Reviews of DAMMING THE FLOOD:

Ben Terrall (Dissident Voice)
www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/04/review-of-damming-the-flood-haiti-aristide-and-the-politics-of-containment/

Joe Emersberger (MR Zine)
www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/emersberger190208.html

Stuart Neatby (The Dominion)
http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/1829

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For more info:
www.canadahaitiaction.ca
www.haitilabor.org (official website of the CTH)
www.haitianalysis.com
www.haitiaction.net

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Other events in the rest of Canada:

Ottawa:
Sunday, June 1, 2 pm
Ottawa Public Library Auditorium
120 Metcalfe St. (at Laurier)
Organized by: Ottawa Haiti Solidarity Committee/Kozayiti
Information: 613 864 1590

Toronto:
Monday, June 2, 7 pm
The Thomas Lounge, Oakham House
63 Gould Street, Ryerson University.
Organized by the Toronto Haiti Action Committee
Information: 416 731 2325 or www.thac.ca email: torontohaitiaction at gmail.com

Vancouver:
Saturday, June 7, 7 pm
Vancouver Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St.
Sponsor: Vancouver Public Library and Necessary Voices Society
Co-Sponsor: Haiti Solidarity BC
Information: 604 338 2558
       
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