This laboratory is dedicated to the study of the different ways in which the State functioned during the 19th and 20th centuries and its relations with Haitian society. The areas of investigation focus on the social history of the Haitian State after its emergence in the transition from the colonial system to independence until the end of the Duvalier dictatorship. The laboratory also examines the current sociology of the state through empirical studies concerning the administrative system, the judiciary and police, legislation, citizenship, territorial groupings, social movements and state elites. Haiti’s relations with the Dominican Republic, Caribbean countries and the international community in general will be a significant focus. One of the empirical dimensions of the field of research involves evaluating the State’s practices through a close analysis of public policies.

The laboratory is currently composed of four lines of research:

1. The State and the Structures of the Peasantry
2. Social Movements and the Constitution of Civil Society
3. History of the State and Public Policies in Haiti and the Caribbean
4. Social Elites in Haiti: State, Market and National Culture

For more information on our research initiatives, please click on one of the projects below for more information:

Study of Societal Dynamics and Fragility in Haiti

Funded by the World Bank Group

Principal Investigators:  Louis Herns Marcelin, INURED, University of Miami;  Pierre-Michel Fontaine, INURED, University of Miami;  Ira Lowenthal, INURED;  Karl Jean Louis, INURED/Watchdog;  Ragas Nang-Yad, INURED.  

The Role of NGOs in Post-Conflict and Post-Disaster State Building and Development in Haiti

Principal Investigators:  Max Stephenson, Director, Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance, Virginia Tech;  Laura Zanotti, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Virginia Tech

Post-Earthquake Recovery and Rebuilding Communities

Principal Investigators:  William J. Siembieda, Professor of City and Regional Planning, California Polytechnic State University;  Asad Mohammed, Faculty of Engineering, and Coordinator of UN Habitat at University of the West Indies

Post-Disaster Governance

Principal Investigators:  Enrique Silva, Assistant Professor and Faculty Coordinator, City Planning and Urban Affairs, Boston University

Nations and International Cooperation: The United States Foreign Assistance and Haiti (1948-2008)

Principal Investigators:  Natacha Nicaise, Universidade de Campinas, Brazil;  Federico Neiburg, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil