Leading scholar Alex Dupuy investigates themes of class, power, and gender in Haiti in the capitalist world-economy-from independence and indemnity to the US occupation and current crisis after the assassination of President Moise. This book provides new perspectives on Haiti's political economy since independence and demystifies major forces that shape Haiti today.

In addition to the controversial indemnity, Dupuy looks at how the United States supplanted France as the major power occupying Haiti from 1915-34 and influenced Haiti's economic and political development. Its policies and those imposed by international financial institutions transformed Haiti into the supplier of the lowest-paid labor, particularly in export assembly industries comprised mostly of women. In the present day, criminal gangs have plunged Haiti into an unprecedented political, economic, and security crisis since the assassination of Moise, and Prime Minister Ariel Henri has called for foreign intervention to restore order.