Armed conflict and social change in Cité Soleil of Haiti from 1990 until today: Analysis of the political management and the role of religion
Author: FABIEN, JEAN , fabournela108@gmail.com
Department: Sociology
University: State University of Campinas, Brazil
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Renato Ortiz
Year of completion: In progress
Language of dissertation: Portuguese
Keywords:
Haiti-Cité Soleil
, Social change
, Social conflict
, religion and politics
Areas of Research:
Armed Forces and Conflict Resolution
Abstract
The objective of the research is to study armed conflict in Cité Soleil as an element of the Social Change and analyze the role of religion as a social and collective space of strengthening social ties and reorganization of social life among individuals when this phenomenon product. Indeed, in Cité Soleil, municipality of 22 km², of 252 960 inhabitants and a demografic density 11,498.18 / km² (IHSI, 2003), located in the department of the west north of Port-au-Prince the capital grows, since 1990, a recurrent phenomenon is developed: armed conflict between social groups and sometimes between them and police forces helped by MINUSTAH. Which leads to violent clashes with some hundreds of deaths. Its frequency and repetition require us to hint three parameters. First, it is there to characterize a sociological problem, which must determine the social basis. Second, we must emphasize that rationality problem in methodology, weighs heavily in the balance of political management of such conflicts. Finally, if both first parameters take into account the sociological aspects, methodological and policy issue, the third is interested to show that it is of an empirical field full of political, religious and social actors, including interactions are likely to complicate the construction of our sociological object. However, our choice of Cité Soleil, as empirical research field, is justified in relation to its geopolitical and strategic position as, according to our analysis, a geographical spaces appopriated best for not only politically analyze this phenomenon and the role it would play in the proces of social change in Haiti, but again, consider how religion as an institution and belief is reinforced during these conflicts and understand how religious cults would have turned into a kind of merchandise .
