The new book Mobilisation sociale aux Antilles: Les évènements du 2009 dans tous leurs sens (Éditions Karthala, 2012), edited by Fabienne Alvarez, Fred Reno, and Jean-Claude Williams, presents essays exploring the circumstances and results of the movement that began with the Lyannaj Kont Pwofitasyon (LKP) in Guadeloupe and the Kolektif Févriyé (K5F) in Martinique in 2009.The collection includes writings by Fabienne Alvarez, Yarimar Bonilla, Jacques Dumont, Danièle Laport, Julien Mérion, Edmond Mondésir, Nathalie Mrgudovic, Éric Nabajoth, Pamela Obertan, Bernard Phipps, Olivier Pulvar, Fred Reno, Boris Samuel, and Jean-Claude William.
Description: After the events of early 2009, what is left of the movement initiated by the LKP in Guadeloupe and K5F in Martinique? Many people have prophesied that “nothing will ever be the same.” But, beyond the activists’ speeches, sometimes unrealistic, the prevailing sentiments range from disillusionment, anger, cynicism, and disappointment. However, the mobilization has been a moment of intense exchange of ideas as well as a confrontation of approaches to reality, an exaltation of Guadeloupean and Martinican feelings of identity, and, to some extent, French identification. Reservations and criticism often obscure the material and symbolic gains of this mobilization, especially the deeper meaning of the uprising. Beyond the shared feelings, the mobilization has exposed different meanings, even opposing ones, which require a contextualized analysis.
This collective work—which brings together 14 specialists from different disciplines of the social sciences, from Guadeloupe, Martinique, the United States, Puerto Rico, Great Britain, Canada, and France—poses questions about the “system of significations” [système de significations] at work in collective action, and particularly in those taking place in 2009 in the Francophone Caribbean. The works presented are based on a well-documented analysis of strategies, deployed to understand the meaning attached to the contribution of different protagonists of this social movement and the various interpretations that may arise from it.
Before the claim of 200 euros by some (whose exclusive evocation impoverishes this social movement), it was the resistance against all forms of pwofitasyon [profiteering] that justified the mobilization of the LKP in Guadeloupe and the K5F in Martinique in 2009. Arising from the need to fight against injustices towards the poor, this social mobilization was similar, early on, to the indignation proclaimed by Stéphane Hessel, which has spread in recent months across the United States and Europe.
For more information (in French), see http://www.karthala.com/hommes-et-societes-sciences-economiques-et-politiques/2560-mobilisations-sociales-aux-antilles-les-evenements-de-2009-dans-tous-leurs-sens-9782811106508.html#.T87OOdErp0M.facebook
