Book
Urban life in the Caribbean: a study of a Haitian urban community
Schenkman Pub. Co. • Cambridge, Mass. • Published In 1983 • Pages:
By: Laguerre, Michel S..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This book, by a native Haitian scholar, presents an analysis of urban life in Haiti through a study of a downtown Port-au-Prince community called Upper Belair. Home to influential Voodoo practioners and a poor majority, this slum community is known in Haiti for its rebellious reputation. The author argues that the dynamics of life in this community reflects the dependence of the poor upon the local elite. A good portion of the book is devoted to discussing the many manifestations of this dependency. The author uses these information to argue that the Upper Belair community and the City are not isolated units. They are enmeshed in a world economy which perpetuates their backwardnesses through increasing dependency. Building on this local experience, the author also attributes the underdevelopment of Haiti to its structural dependency upon the outside world.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cities
- Chief executive
- Social relationships and groups
- Religious and educational structures
- Territorial hierarchy
- Settlement patterns
- Refuse disposal and sanitary facilities
- Streets and traffic
- Retail marketing
- Labor supply and employment
- Sleeping
- Standard of living
- Poverty
- Priesthood
- Congregations
- Internal trade
- Mutual aid
- Family relationships
- Extended families
- Kin relationships
- Building interiors and arrangement
- Local officials
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Haitians
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2012
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle America and the Caribbean
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Caribbean
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2011
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1974-1976
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1625-1982
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Port-au-Prince, Haiti
- NotesAdditional notes
- Michel S. Laguerre
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 185-207) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 82010765
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Voodooism--Haiti--Port-au-Prince--Case studies
- Sociology, Urban--Case studies
- Cities and towns--Caribbean Area--Case studies
- Port-au-Prince (Haiti)--Social conditions--Case studies