Chapter Notes: Geographies of the Haitian Diaspora (Jackson, ed.) Source file: jackson geographies haitian diaspora Introduction / Ch. 1 — Overview of Haitian Dispersal (Martinez) Scale and geography of the diaspora
At the time of writing (c. 2010), between 1 and 1.5 million people of Haitian background lived outside Haiti (Glick Schiller and Fouron 2001, 12)
Major concentrations: New York City (Brooklyn/Crown Heights/Flatbush), Miami/Little Haiti, Boston/Dorchester-Mattapan, Montreal, Paris, Dominican Republic (sugar plantation labor), the Bahamas, Cuba
The diaspora is not a single community but a dispersed archipelago of distinct local adaptations shaped by host-country racial regimes, immigration law, and the specific wave of migration that founded each settlement Historical periodization
The introduction identifies four broad phases:
Pre-Duvalier: small elite migrations; educated professionals; connections formed during US occupation (1915–1934) through Rockefeller Foundation, USAID, and educational exchange programs
Duvalier dictatorship (1957–1986): largest-scale brain drain in Caribbean history; professionals, intellectuals, the entire political left flee; founding of New York, Miami, and Montreal communities
Boat people / political crisis (1979–1994): working-class boat people fleeing poverty and violence; HIV/AIDS stigma crisis in US (CDC 1983); Aristide coup (1991) triggers refugee wave; Tenth Department concept emerges
Post-1994: family reunification and refugee resettlement; rural, working-class arrivals; more diverse and economically stratified communities Transnational social fields
The volume relies heavily on Basch, Glick Schiller, and Szanton Blanc's (1994) framework: Haitian migrants are not simply immigrants assimilating into one nation-state but participants in "transnational social fields" maintaining dense ties to haiti through remittances, visits, political organizations, and media.