Solidarity or Intervention? The Geopolitics Behind Kenya’s Mission to Haiti’s ‘Republic of NGOs’
by Dr. Mark Schuller
On October 2, the U.N. Security Council approved a peacekeeping mission to Haiti headed by Kenya. The proposal – as of yet unclear when it will be administered – has led to many questions and critiques. Kenya does not share colonial ties with Haiti, the world’s first free Black republic. Why Kenya? And what does it mean? Why now? This talk will explore the emerging issues, disentangling the geopolitics, and offer a recent historical perspective to explain the perceived necessity of a foreign mission.
March 14th, 2024 5:30PM
Lecture Center 108
Co-sponsored by the Departments of Anthropology, Black Studies and the Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies Program and CAS.
Dr. Mark Schuller is the Acting Director of the Center for Nonprofit and NGO Studies as well as Presidential Research Professor of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University and affiliate at the Faculté d’Ethnologie, l’Université d’État d’Haïti. Supported by the National Science Foundation Senior and CAREER Grant, Bellagio Center, and others, Schuller’s research on NGOs, disasters, globalization, and gender in Haiti has been published in fifty peer-reviewed articles or book chapters as well as public media. He authored or coedited eight books including Humanity’s Last Stand. He is co-director / co-producer of documentary Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy (2009). Schuller is Co-Chair of the Risk and Disaster Topical Interest Group at the Society for Applied Anthropology and Secretary of the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology. Recipient of the Margaret Mead Award, the Anthropology in Media Award, and the Haitian Studies Association’s Award for Excellence, he is active in several solidarity efforts.
(Coffee and snacks to be provided)
