Au cours de ces deux dernières décennies, les étudiants internationaux ont été l’objet d’études de nombreuses recherches (Bureau canadien de l’éducation internationale, 2017 ; Chatel-De Repentigny, Montmarquette & Vaillancourt, 2011 ; Hou & Lu, 2017 ; Williams, Williams, & Abuckle, 2015, Fortier, 2007 ; Maïnich, 2015 ; Millet, 2000 ; Terrier, 2009 b, 2009a ; Vultur & Germain, 2018).

In rural Haiti, community development programs are delivered predominantly by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and commonly have goals related to empowerment, participation, and local capacity development. Yet attainment of these goals is often difficult, and analysis of these programs neglects the complex micropolitics of development interventions. This thesis investigates the local-level encounter and contestation of NGO and local discourses of development in a community in rural Haiti.

Haiti has long been characterized as a fragile state. Particularly since 2004, responses from the international community have focused on Haiti’s stabilization and reconstruction. Post-colonial critiques highlight the constraints imposed by these approaches, but fail to sufficiently explore forms of agency which, by resisting and redirecting external impositions, could promote political, social and economic transformation. The adoption of the National Policy for Equality between Women and Men in Haiti in 2014/15 seems to represent such potentially transformative agency.