Structural, historical, and geopolitical violence as an identity marker of Haitian nationals and migrants

ABSTRACT

Violence is a phenomenon affecting relationships between people and has the potential to shape their identities. This article provides a better understanding of how historical-structural violence has shaped and continues to shape Haitian identity and why Haitians are often confronted with violence when they migrate to other countries. By showing how structural, historical, and geopolitical factors have shaped the Haitian people’s identity, this article identifies the causes of the violence that remains in a population subjected for over 200 years to chains that even migration cannot break. Born of violence and fleeing generalized violence, Haitian migrants, not particularly for being Haitian, have been the targets of post-colonial violence.

KEYWORDS:

• Haiti
• colonization
• racism
• violence
• migration
• identity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jean Robert Dery

Jean Robert Déry is a philosopher and theologian. He holds a Master's degree in Business Administration. He was national director of the Service Jésuite aux Migrants-Haïti. He is a Ph.D. student in International Migration and Development Cooperation at Instituto Universitario de Estudios sobre Migraciones (IUEM) from Universidad Pontificia Comillas.

Yoan Molinero-Gerbeau

Yoan Molinero-Gerbeau is a political scientist with PhD in International Relations and Political Science. He is senior researcher at the Instituto Universitario de Estudios sobre Migraciones (IUEM) from Universidad Pontificia Comillas. He is editor-in-chief of the journal Migraciones.