Street Sovereigns: Young Men and the Makeshift State in Urban Haiti

Awards:   Winner of Isis Duarte Prize (United States). Winner of Isis Duarte Prize 2020 (United States)
Author:   Chelsey L. Kivland
Publisher:   Cornell University Press
ISBN:  

9781501746994


Pages:   306
Publication Date:   15 February 2020
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Our Price $67.25 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

Street Sovereigns: Young Men and the Makeshift State in Urban Haiti


Add your own review!

Awards

  • Winner of Isis Duarte Prize (United States).
  • Winner of Isis Duarte Prize 2020 (United States)

Overview

How do people improvise political communities in the face of state collapse-and at what cost? Street Sovereigns explores the risks and rewards taken by young men on the margins of urban Haiti who broker relations with politicians, state agents, and NGO workers in order to secure representation, resources, and jobs for themselves and neighbors. Moving beyond mainstream analyses that understand these groups-known as baz (base)-as apolitical, criminal gangs, Chelsey Kivland argues that they more accurately express a novel mode of street politics that has resulted from the nexus of liberalizing orders of governance and development with longstanding practices of militant organizing in Haiti. Kivland demonstrates how the baz exemplifies an innovative and effective platform for intervening in the contemporary political order, while at the same time reproducing gendered and generational hierarchies and precipitating contests of leadership that exacerbate neighborhood insecurity. Still, through the continual effort to reconstitute a state that responds to the needs of the urban poor, this story offers a poignant lesson for political thought: one that counters prevailing conceptualizations of the state as that which should be flouted, escaped, or dismantled. The baz project reminds us that in the stead of a vitiated government and public sector the state resurfaces as the aspirational bedrock of the good society. ""We make the state,"" as baz leaders say.

Full Product Details

Author:   Chelsey L. Kivland
Publisher:   Cornell University Press
Imprint:   Cornell University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9781501746994


ISBN 10:   1501746995
Pages:   306
Publication Date:   15 February 2020
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Baz 1. Defense 2. History 3. Respect 4. Identity 5. Development 6. Gender Conclusion: The Spiral

Reviews

Kivland's fine-grained portraits of her interlocutors are poignant and compelling. * American Anthropologist *


Kivland's fine-grained portraits of her interlocutors are poignant and compelling. * American Anthropologist * In Street Sovereigns, Chelsey Kivland draws on years of ethnographic research to reframe the way we think about political agency, sovereignty, and statemaking in Haiti. Kivland masterfully weaves an analysis that is rich in ethnographic detail and sophisticated in theoretical insight. There is a remarkable humility to her analysis; the result is a work of deep and profound respect. * New West Indian Guide *


Author Information

Chelsey L. Kivland is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Dartmouth College. Follow her on X @ChelseyKivland.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

Aorrng

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List