Beyond the Binary: New Roles and Implications of NGOs in Haiti

Abstract

Recent academic debates regarding the proliferation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Haiti often fall into the trap of pitting NGOs as an entity against the Haitian state. This paper seeks to follow academic arguments that go beyond this binary framework by examining the coordination and collaboration practices of health NGOs at the local level in the North Department of Haiti. Specifically, this paper will discuss how individuals, both Haitian and foreign, attempt to resist national and international hegemonic structures while still operating within these confines to present an acceptable “face” to the outside. To illustrate this point, I will draw on three specific instances and conversations I had while in Haiti that manifest acts of individual resistance. First, I will discuss how the Haitian state’s extreme centralization affects government workers and NGO partners at the local and regional level in Cap-Haitian. Second, I will illustrate the philosophy of one particular health NGO that negotiates both foreign and local ideologies and practices in an attempt to create a more accountable partnership with the local Haitian authorities. Third, I will explore how my participant observation became wrapped up in dominant power structures and relations. Drawing on the theoretical work of Antonio Gramsci and Michel Foucault, I will explore how individuals contest the power structures and hegemonic discourses within which they are embedded, thereby constantly creating new spaces for possibility and change.