Killing the Elites - by Jean-Philippe Belleau

About the Book

Through a rich historical ethnography of a massacre in the small town of Jérémie, Haiti, Jean-Philippe Belleau offers a new account of the workings of the François "Papa Doc" Duvalier regime and an innovative analysis of anti-elite violence.

Book Synopsis

In the summer and fall of 1964, a massacre took place in the small town of Jérémie, Haiti. After an ill-fated uprising, the brutal regime of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier ordered reprisals against the town that some of the insurgents were allegedly from. Entire families--all from the town's upper class--were slaughtered. Through a rich historical ethnography of the massacre, Jean-Philippe Belleau offers a new account of the workings of the Duvalier regime and an innovative analysis of anti-elite violence.

Killing the Elites meticulously reconstructs the various phases of the massacre, identifying the victims and perpetrators, tracing the social ties that linked them, and examining the varying degrees of culpability from the state to bystanders. Although Duvalier and the military were responsible, the killings were attributed to popular social grievances. Examining how the Haitian state has brutalized the upper classes, Belleau develops a new theory of anti-elite violence. He challenges views that ideology or social difference can readily drive people to kill their neighbors and that the upper classes fall victim to popular rough justice, showing that social bonds within the town prevented organized violence from spreading. The state, Belleau underscores, is the primary perpetrator of violence against elites. Drawing on interviews with eyewitnesses and former regime members as well as a wide range of unexplored primary sources, this book provides a new lens on Haiti under Duvalier and reveals why the victimization of the elite is essential to mass violence.

Review Quotes

Jean-Philippe Belleau's Killing the Elites is a major contribution to the study of Francois Duvalier's regime of terror. It concentrates on the "Jeremian Vespers," one of the most brutal massacres committed by the dictatorship. The reading is compelling and meticulously documented. An indispensable book on an understudied period of Haitian history.--Robert Fatton, author of The Guise of Exceptionalism: Unmasking the National Narratives of Haiti and the United States

In this highly innovative and meticulously researched book, Belleau explores the dynamics of elite killings in Haiti during Duvalier's regime. This excellent book offers much more than an analysis of this case study; it successfully challenges the conventional interpretations of how violence shapes social relations.--Sinisa Malesevic, author of Why Humans Fight: The Social Dynamics of Close-Range Violence

Killing the Elites is a well-wrought, comprehensive study of one particular massacre during the violent regime of Duvalier. Based on victim and perpetrator perspectives, Belleau strikes the right balance between empirical depth and conceptual breadth, and therefore his conclusions are relevant beyond the specific dynamics of this massacre in Haiti.--Ugur Ungor, author of Genocide: New Perspectives

About the Author

Jean-Philippe Belleau is an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He worked for several years in human rights and diplomacy with the United Nations, the Organization of American States, and NGOs before returning to academia.