Killing the Elites - by Jean-Philippe Belleau

About the Book

"In the summer of 1964, three extended families were exterminated in the coastal town of Jâerâemie, Haiti. All were from the local elite; one was the richest in town. The president of Haiti at the time, Franðcois "Papa Doc" Duvalier, ordered the massacre while the military carried out the executions. It was a state crime; the civilian population played no role in it. However, this mass killing was soon constructed in oral history and the historiography as popular justice. The poor, entirely absent from the massacre, ended at the center of its apocryphal narrative. This event, known as the "Jeremian Vespers," occupies an important place in Haiti's oral history and historiography. At least 11 books mention it, although in no more than a few lines. It has never been the subject of a research and has been framed in sensationalist, counter-factual narratives. The unintelligibility and lack of clear causality of the massacre (why were families without any political activity killed by the regime?) elicited apocryphal explanations trying to rationalize a massacre that appeared irrational. Killing the Elites proposes a "dive-in" ethnography that meticulously reconstitutes the various phases of the massacre, and identifies the victims, the various levels of responsibilities and perpetration, and the large spectrum of "by-standing." The study of this massacre is a pretext to explore three larger, overlooked topics: the Franðcois Duvalier regime (1957-1971); anti-elite sentiments and violence in Haiti since the mid-19th century; and the centrality of interpersonal relationships in the forms of, and resistance to, political violence. Belleau argues that Haiti's relational culture and a thick social fabric, untouched by the regime's barbarity, are key to understand ethical inhibitions and the complex mechanisms within Haitian culture that have prevented organized violence from spreading and degenerating into genocidal violence. This finding contradicts a sensationalist literature that depicts Haiti as a site of grotesque cruelty"--

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.