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In this piece by a collective of scholars, activists, and artists, the authors clarify what they mean by “Transnational Hispaniola” and why they believe this conceptualization of the island complements the work done by social movements combating sexism, racism, and homophobia. They assess the responses to their efforts so far — by people in the Dominican Republic and in the United States — to reflect critically upon the promises and limitations of this work. They end by explaining their goals for the future challenges as they plan a third (but hopefully not final) conference, this time in Haiti.

After the 2010 earthquake, many stakeholders in Haiti and across the globe worked together to increase Haitian mango harvest for export, ostensibly as a way to improve people’s lives. To date, however, no study has examined how such an increase may be affecting the producers beyond statistical measures. Using archival research and fieldwork in the Artibonite Department in Haiti, this article examines the social consequences of the labour process of Haitian peasants as they pick and process mangoes for export. After describing the biogeography of the mango, I describe the different systems of labour used in mango harvesting. I argue that the growth and harvesting of Haitian mangoes for export reflects social differentiation between those who can organize labour according to monetized relations and those who incorporate the domestic unit into commodity production. Furthermore, as more production shifts to work based upon monetized relations, the balance of economic power shifts towards adult men.

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