The Haitians Book Club
Disclaimer: The Haitians Book Club is not being developed by the Haitians Studies Association. As part of our mission to encourage scholarship and discussions on Haiti, we are helping spread the word of this worthwhile project.
This book club welcomes students and scholars, both inside and outside the academy, to a series of discussions of The Haitians: A Decolonial History, author Jean Casimir’s landmark work of theory and history. Beginning in August, the club will hold four virtual, monthly meetings, free and open to the public. During these meetings, participants will focus our discussion on one of the following themes: translation; slavery and freedom; sovereignty and the state; and colonialism and decoloniality. The Haitians encourages deeper consideration or even re-thinking of all four of these themes. An invited scholar or pair of scholars will lead each discussion and lend their expertise to our collective attempt to do this intellectual work and think about Haiti and the world through The Haitians.
To help participants through The Haitians and our discussion, the co-conveners of the book club have provided a readers’ guide. This guide includes a suggested summer reading schedule of The Haitians, a brief chronology of Haitian history, a list of key people mentioned in The Haitians, and a set of key terms/concepts that Casimir re-theorizes or that might be unfamiliar to readers. It also includes a few suggested readings and resources, relevant to each theme, for consideration alongside The Haitians.
In addition to this readers’ guide, the co-conveners have also provided a comments section for each of the four discussions. This space will allow participants to pose questions and offer their thoughts in the days and weeks leading up to each thematic discussion. It will remain open after the live event to facilitate ongoing engagement with the text and with one another.