Sciences at the University of Chicago Trouillot was best known for his books Open the Social Science (1990), Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995), and Global Transformations (2003), which explored the origins and application of social science in academia and its implications in the world. Trouillot has been one of the most influential thinkers of Afro-Caribbean diaspora, because he developed wide-ranging academic work centered on Caribbean issues. Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall holds that “Trouillot was one of the most original and thoughtful voices in academia. His writings influenced scholars worldwide in many fields, from anthropology to history to Caribbean studies Academic Life
Trouillot joined the University of Chicago faculty in 1998 after serving as the Krieger/Eisenhower Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and director of the [[Institute for Global Studies in Culture, Power and History at Johns Hopkins University. Trouillot was one of the most original, disciplinary, innovative and thoughtful voices in academia because his theoretical frameworks expanded social science knowledge in Caribbean studies; his writings influenced scholars in many fields, from anthropology, sociology, to history to Caribbean studies. Trouillot’s academic legacy explores sub-fields of the anthropology with regards to social sciences knowledge. As he explains in Global Transformations (2003), he viewed academic work as more than a simple search for facts: “What I want to know in this case is never merely an empirical fact, let alone what I could learn from someone else—from a book, for instance. It is the knowledge that I want to produce. It is what I want to say about this topic, this site, these people—the ‘burning questions’ I want to share even with myself as interlocutor.
Trouillot was the author and co-author of a number of books Trouillot published the first nonfiction book in Haitian Creole published as an activist and undergraduate, Ti difé boulé sou istwa Ayiti (1977) (A Small Fire Burning on Haitian History), this book is an attempt to shed knowledge and ignite new interpretations of Haitian history.[20] His dissertation, which later became his second book, Peasants and Capital: Dominica in the World Economy (1988) focused on how peasants in Dominica dealt with the transformations of the global banana industry. He published Les racines historiques de l’état duvaliérien, which later appeared in English as Haiti: State Against Nation. The Origins and Legacies of Duvalierism (1990) was an important book with regards to repression and legacy in Afro-Caribbean studies. Additionally, Trouillot published Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995), this book has become a foundational text for both Haitian studies and history.
The Caribbean Philosophical Association awarded him the 2011 Frantz Fanon Lifetime Achievement Award “for the originality of his interrogations in the human sciences, especially anthropology and history, and his articulation of the importance and challenges of Haiti in contemporary discussions of freedom and reclamations of the past.
Before his untimely death in July 2012, Michel-Rolph Trouillot was one of the most original and thoughtful voices in academia. His writings influenced scholars worldwide in many fields, from anthropology to history to Caribbean studies. He also wrote profoundly important works in three languages, from his 1977 Kreyòl work Ti difé boulé sou istoua Ayiti and his 1986 French classic Les Racines historiques de l’État duvaliérien to more recent English-language studies like 2003’s Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World.
Though each of these works made its own seminal contribution to scholarship, Trouillot’s Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) is his most famous work.1 Silencing examines the way history is produced, and how history-writing is connected to power. Trouillot also looked at the gaps between what actually happened in the past, and what is “said to have happened” (what is recorded in history books). Rather than simply repeat the cliché that history is written by the victors, Trouillot called for analyzing how the powerful write history in a given way in particular situations. One of Trouillot’s main interests in Silencing was to investigate how historical narratives inevitably omit certain portions of the past. He also exposed how the archives where historical truths are preserved frequently silence defeated voices. In addition, Trouillot described the historical practices that suppress subaltern perspectives. Finally, Trouillot looked at particular ways of thinking that have made it difficult for powerful groups to come to terms with history as it actually happened. The examples he covered range from narratives about Columbus to Disney’s failed efforts to build a Civil War–themed amusement park in Virginia.
History” has been uneven. While some of Trouillot’s arguments in the chapter are now widely accepted, others have been neglected, and debate remains on still others. I focus especially on the essay’s influence on scholarship of the Haitian Revolution. My main argument in this section is that although the essay has helped to make the Haitian Revolution more widely known, when non-Haitian scholars write about the Revolution, they often still do so in ways that Trouillot would denounce as “banalizing.” While some of the scholarship I discuss dismisses the Haitian Revolution consciously, I also describe the prevalence of what I call “Me Free Too” scholarship, which writes about the Revolution in unwittingly trivializing ways.
My reception history of Silencing the Past concentrates on Anglophone readers, who have been the main audience for the book.2 Nevertheless, my analysis of how the “Unthinkable History” chapter has affected Haitian Revolutionary studies examines French and Haitian scholarship as well as Anglophone writings. While Silencing itself has not been translated into French, a French version of the “Unthinkable History” chapter was published in Haiti in 1995, so it is more accessible to French and Haitian scholars than other parts of the book. Still, it remains little known and is much less frequently cited than the English version.3
When Trouillot passed away in 2012, scholars worldwide gathered in cyberspace to share their appreciation of his work. Many spoke specifically of Silencing and of its formative influence on the development of their own research. Évelyne Trouillot, Michel-Rolph’s sister as well as a novelist and French professor, described the unique place of this work in her brother’s oeuvre. In…
Before his untimely death in July 2012, Michel-Rolph Trouillot was one of the most original and thoughtful voices in academia. His writings influenced scholars worldwide in many fields, from anthropology to history to Caribbean studies. He also wrote profoundly important works in three languages, from his 1977 Kreyòl work Ti difé boulé sou istoua Ayiti and his 1986 French classic Les Racines historiques de l’État duvaliérien to more recent English-language studies like 2003’s Global Transformations: Anthropology and the Modern World. Though each of these works made its own seminal contribution to scholarship, Trouillot’s Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) is his most famous work.1 Silencing examines the way history is produced, and how history-writing is connected to power. Trouillot also looked at the gaps between what actually happened in the past, and what is “said to have happened” (what is recorded in history books). Rather than simply repeat the cliché that history is written by the victors, Trouillot called for analyzing how the powerful write history in a given way in particular situations.
One of Trouillot’s main interests in Silencing was to investigate how historical narratives inevitably omit certain portions of the past. He also exposed how the archives where historical truths are preserved frequently silence defeated voices. In addition, Trouillot described the historical practices that suppress subaltern perspectives. Finally, Trouillot looked at particular ways of thinking that have made it difficult for powerful groups to come to terms with history as it actually happened. The examples he covered range from narratives about Columbus to Disney’s failed efforts to build a Civil War–themed amusement park in Virginia. In this essay, I trace the reception history of this remarkable book since its publication in 1995. I note that Silencing was not immediately a hit when it appeared. Over time, however, the book has had a remarkable influence on many fields. In the first half of this essay, I examine the book’s influence, using multiple kinds of evidence. Even as I trace the influence of the book as a whole, I pay special attention to its third chapter: “An Unthinkable History: The Haitian Revolution as a Non-Event.” In the essay’s second half, I argue that, despite the influence of Silencing in general and of this chapter in particular, the reception of “Unthinkable History” has been uneven.
While some of Trouillot’s arguments in the chapter are now widely accepted, others have been neglected, and debate remains on still others. I focus especially on the essay’s influence on scholarship of the Haitian Revolution. My main argument in this section is that although the essay has helped to make the Haitian Revolution more widely known, when non-Haitian scholars write about the Revolution, they often still do so in ways that Trouillot would denounce as “banalizing.” While some of the scholarship I discuss dismisses the Haitian Revolution consciously, I also describe the prevalence of what I call “Me Free Too” scholarship, which writes about the Revolution in unwittingly trivializing ways. My reception history of Silencing the Past concentrates on Anglophone readers, who have been the main audience for the book.2 Nevertheless, my analysis of how the “Unthinkable History” chapter has affected Haitian Revolutionary studies examines French and Haitian scholarship as well as Anglophone writings. While Silencing itself has not been translated into French, a French version of the “Unthinkable History” chapter was published in Haiti in 1995, so it is more accessible to French and Haitian scholars than other parts of the book. Still, it remains little known and is much less frequently cited than the English version.3 When Trouillot passed away in 2012, scholars worldwide gathered in cyberspace to share their appreciation of his work. Many spoke specifically of Silencing and of its formative influence on the development of their own research.
Ever since Michel-Rolph Trouillot published Silencing the Past in 1995, scholars of the Haitian Revolution have confronted its influential claims. This volume is no exception, as editor Doris L. Garraway asserts that there is a silence within French historiography and cultural memory In his seminal work, Trouillot “argues that the Haitian Revolution was unthinkable within the philosophical milieu of the late-eighteenth-century slaveholding world and has since been systematically suppressed in Western historiography and humanistic scholarship”Garraway contends that while historical study of the Haitian Revolution “has flourished”–perhaps, somewhat of an overstatement–“scholarly understandings of the cultural, literary, and philosophical legacies of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World have lagged considerably behind” While Garraway’s assertion is disputable, as other studies of the Haitian Revolution have explored its cultural, literary, and philosophical legacies, this collection makes a significant contribution, both in the way of the content and its admirable aim to open an interdisciplinary dialogue.
The importance of Modern Politics
1. It is Relevant to Solving our Problems: Political Theory is closely related to a number of academic subjects such as history, ethics, sociology, economics and other areas of study. These subjects provide theories and data which political theorists use to construct political theory.
2. Knowledge of Our Rights and Duties: A democratic government implies popular participation in political processes such as elections. We should know our rights, especially the right to vote. Our knowledge of political theory tells us that Right to Vote is not only a Right but a Duty as well. The voters should choose the best men.
3. Political Theory Liberalizes the Outlook: By studying political theory, an individual may think more logically about concepts such as equality, liberty and justice. Political theory teaches us to be tolerant of other people’s attitudes or beliefs. Liberty and Equality are not just abstract concepts; these concepts reflect ideals that we should try to follow. An intelligent citizen is committed to liberal ideals and civil liberties.
4. Politics essentially is the Art of thePossible: Limitations on any government exist and we all can see them. A political system has to function under different kinds of compulsions and constraints. Anything is possible in politics. An understanding of politics can be helpful in appreciating factors which bring necessary changes in the society.
5. A Growth in the Reasoning Powers of the Mind: A political concept is not merely a matter of faith or belief; it develops through a lot of reasoning. Different ideologies (liberalism, Marxism and socialism) have been subjected to verification and the political thinkers relied on ‘facts’ and ‘practical experience’. Political theory generates a spirit of reasoning, which would help students to make arguments or statements when they participate in debates.
The Greek polis served as an influential model of citizenship and governance for centuries. Modern political philosophers, however, found that they needed to rethink politics according to a new, more realistic understanding of the way humans actually behave. As a result, modern government requires both a keen historical sense and the pragmatic use of power.
Our unit begins with the Italian political philosopher and civil servant, Niccolò Machiavelli. Machiavelli is credited with the distinctly modern notion of an artificial (rather than natural) state in which the leader should rule swiftly, effectively, and in a calculated manner. Many associate his theories with the use of deceit and cunning in politics; after Machiavelli, politics was conceived of as an art in which the best rulers governed shrewdly, carefully calculating about enemies, populations, and the timing of certain actions.
Reference
- Ti difé boulé sou istwa Ayiti (1977) (A Small Fire Burning on Haitian History),
- Michel-Rolph Trouillot, Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (Boston: Beacon Press, 1995). For scholarly references to Trouillot’s Silencing the Past
- David P. Geggus, Haitian Revolutionary Studies (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002); Laurent Dubois, Avengers of the New World: The Story of the Haitian Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2004); Laurent Dubois, Colony of Citizens: Revolution and Slave Emancipation in the Caribbean, 1787-1804 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004); Jeremy D. Popkin, Facing Racial Revolution: Eyewitness Accounts of the Haitian Insurrection (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007); and Doris Garraway, The Libertine Colony: Creolization in the Early French Caribbean (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2005).
