In this article I discuss the unintended consequences of humanitarian and development assistance provided to “victims of human rights abuses” in Haiti in the years following the restoration of democracy in 1994. Such targeted aid was a component of international political and economic development aid intended to facilitate the nation's postconflict transition.

This chapter addresses the current state of Haiti as an archetype of a postcolonial and post-dictatorial country plagued by economic and political instability. Caple James explores the different reasons why the Haitian transition to democracy was both unpredictable and dangerous for individuals, communities and the entire nation through one case study she encountered while doing field work in the country.

This article analyzes the unintended consequences of humanitarian and development interventions in Haiti implemented to facilitate its postconflict transition following the period of military rule between 1991 and 1994. International and national governmental and nongovernmental initiatives to provide redress and healing to victims of human rights abuses from this period inadvertently contributed to the growth of a political economy of trauma.

This article explores the challenges that emerge at the intersection of economies of compassion and terror: local, national, and international forms of humanitarian assistance; security practices in insecure social and institutional environments; questions of