Stigma in Paradise: Experiences of Young Haitian Im/migrant Men With Structural Violence, Occupational Health, and Social Capital in the Informal Tourism Sector of the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Haitian im/migrants have been exploited for their labor in the Dominican Republic for several decades. Neoliberal economic shifts of the late 20th and early 21st century have re-routed Haitian im/migrants from the declining agricultural sector directly to tourist hubs and urban centers. The purpose of this research is to explore the experiences of young Haitian im/migrant men (ages 18- 30) with occupational health while working in the Dominican Republic’s informal tourism sector. I utilize a community engaged approach and mixed methods to explore ooccupation as a locus for health analysis, comparing the reported experiences of young Haitian and Dominican men. I place young Haitian men’s reported experiences with occupation-related health in the context of greater structural inequality that has been shaped by global neoliberal politics and perpetuated by hyper-national rhetoric, racialized documentation regulation, and the historical stigmatization of Haitian identities by the Dominican government. This project combines questions about the effects of structural inequality and racial stigma on human health, and the strategies young Haitian im/migrant men use to survive.