Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti by Mark SchullerPublication Date: 2016
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti was one of the deadliest disasters in modern history, sparking an international aid response--with pledges and donations of $16 billion--that was exceedingly generous. In Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti, anthropologist Mark Schuller captures the voices of those involved in the earthquake aid response, and they paint a sharp, unflattering view of the humanitarian enterprise. Schuller led an independent study of eight displaced-persons camps in Haiti, compiling more than 150 interviews ranging from Haitian front-line workers and camp directors to foreign humanitarians and many displaced Haitian people. The result is an insightful account of why the multi-billion-dollar aid response not only did little to help but also did much harm, triggering a range of unintended consequences, rupturing Haitian social and cultural institutions, and actually increasing violence, especially against women.