Given the demonization of a particular culture on display here, and
specifically the distasteful idea that some cultures are
"progress-resistant" (which Brooks has admittedly taken from the Samuel P.
Huntington play-book), I'm going to plug one of my own articles... but with
far more humility and compassion for the victims than Brooks' (perhaps
unwittingly?) racist agenda.
"Culture of violence or violent Orientalism? Neoliberalisation and imagining
the 'savage other' in post-transitional Cambodia"
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122220672/abstract
The context of the paper is contemporary Cambodia, but the critique of the
discursive framing at issue here, I think, has a lot of resonance in both
sites. Brooks offers no real insight into Haiti's colonial past and how
Haitians continue to struggle with this legacy, nevermind a meaningful
treatment of its colonial present and the evolving intersections of aid
dependency, elite kleptocracy, and US meddling that have shaped the
country's "development". Instead, "culture" becomes a quick fix in placing
blame entirely in the hands of ostensibly "progress-resistant" people, who
lack "proper" (western? neoliberal? white?) notions of "responsibility".
Violent Orientalism at the worst possible moment? You bet it is, and to use
Brook's own words against him "a horrible tragedy was just exacerbated".
On Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:01:58 -0600, Oliver Belcher <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>For your enjoyment (sic):
>
>After elucidating a number of points behind the contribution of
>poverty to the destruction of Haiti, NYTimes columnist David Brooks
>wrote this zinger (point 3) in today's paper:
>
>"Haiti, like most of the world’s poorest nations, suffers from a
>complex web of progress-resistant cultural influences. There is the
>influence of the voodoo religion, which spreads the message that life
>is capricious and planning futile. There are high levels of social
>mistrust. Responsibility is often not internalized. Child-rearing
>practices often involve neglect in the early years and harsh
>retribution when kids hit 9 or 10. We’re all supposed to politely
>respect each other’s cultures. But some cultures are more
>progress-resistant than others, and a horrible tragedy was just
>exacerbated by one of them."
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/opinion/15brooks.html?em
>
>While Naomi Klein warns of the risk of aid exacerbating the dependence
>of Haiti (a victim of IMF/WB SAPs), here is the dark flip-side to that
>coin...
>
>Another development (only in the U.S.?), here is an innovative way to
>turn your vices into virtue. Zizek would be proud:
>http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/aid-for-haiti?utm_id=171
>
>Oliver!
>
>--
>Oliver Christian Belcher
>PhD Student
>Department of Geography
>University of British Columbia
>Blog: meanswithoutend.blogspot.com
>
>"The hope that earthly horror does not possess the last word is, to be
>sure, a non-scientific wish." Max Horkheimer
>
>"No one likes armed missionaries." Maximilien Robespierre
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