The Spiritual Agents of the Haitian Revolution

Speaker: Professor Robbie Shilliam, Queen Mary, London 

Let us gather our lwa (spiritual agents) / We are in Bwa Kayiman / We hear the rifles fire / After God / We are the only chiefs here / After God / We are the chiefs”. Is it possible to account for the beginning of the Haitian Revolution (1791) in the presence of lwa?  Working with this traditional song, recorded by Rachel Beauvoir-Dominique on fieldwork, we will seek a different articulation of the agencies and ethics that propelled the most radical of all revolutions in the age of revolutions – the one that outlawed slavery. 

All students and staff welcome (students will guide visitors to room G7)