Haiti: a brief history of underdevelopment from colonial state to aid state

Jake Johnston

Chapter 22 in The Elgar Companion to the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean, 2025, pp 452-471 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Haiti has the lowest per capita income in the region and the lowest ranking in the United Nations’ Human Development Index; it is also the region's most unequal country. Haiti's present state has been shaped by its history, a 200-plus year struggle for independence and freedom that began with the world's first successful slave revolt. This long-term development failure has continued since the country's democratization, despite the nation receiving tens of billions of dollars in foreign assistance. Barriers to development include the ongoing effects of slavery and racism, foreign intervention, debt, the poor administration of foreign assistance, a marginalized majority, and state capture by a small but powerful economic elite. This is divided into four sections. The first, Revolution and Independence, covers the period from 1790 to 1914. The second, Occupation to Dictatorship, spans the 19-year US occupation of Haiti and the 29-year Duvalier dictatorship, which ended in 1986. The third, Democratization and Elite Pushback, focuses on 1986 to 2004. Finally, the fourth section, Consolidation of the Aid State, brings the reader up to the present. Each section discusses the historical context and analyzes the ongoing drivers of the Haitian state's inability to achieve improvements in the population's living standards.

Keywords: Debt; Colonialism; Haiti; Development; Aid; Democracy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035317196
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