Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In recent years there has been substantial research on Dominican migration and transnationalism, yet these studies have largely overlooked both the manner in which globalisation generates new localisations, and the continuing salience of the state as a mediator between the global and the local. Based upon fieldwork in La Ciénaga, a poor barrio of Santo Domingo, this thesis argues that emplacement, rather than transnationalism, is paradigmatic of the experiences of poor Dominicans and provides their primary source of unity. Race, ethnicity, and social class have long been promoted as structuring the experiences of Caribbean people, but my analysis suggests that these operate more as sources of differentiation than of identification in Santo Domingo’s barrios. I examine the strategies and practices residents deploy to create value in place, overcome their localisation, and achieve progreso (progress) within the bounds of the state. These include transforming the material environment and its symbolic meanings, elaborating certain social hierarchies and contesting others, and developing locality-based political organisations. In the Caribbean, it has been usual for studies of cultural oppositions or dualisms to effectively constitute a different genre to studies of class, race, and globalization. My ethnography indicates that this distinction is false. Residents of La Ciénaga deploy cultural oppositions and notion of difference to define a place in the social hierarchies of the barrio and city, while simultaneously recognising the moral value and identical structural position of those around them. Popular politics in Santo Domingo are characterised by this tension between social stratification and the elaboration of cultural value in place. This thesis develops a political and social economy of value that addresses both the bases of stratification in the sphere of production and the ways in which projects of self-creation, such as through consumption, allow for the elaboration of cultural value and meaning for individuals and social groups. Given the importance of locality to popular politics, I argue that this integrated approach is necessary to any assessment of the transformative potential of community organisations and other political movements in Santo Domingo.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / In recent years there has been substantial research on Dominican migration and transnationalism, yet these studies have largely overlooked both the manner in which globalisation generates new localisations, and the continuing salience of the state as a mediator between the global and the local. Based upon fieldwork in La Ciénaga, a poor barrio of Santo Domingo, this thesis argues that emplacement, rather than transnationalism, is paradigmatic of the experiences of poor Dominicans and provides their primary source of unity. Race, ethnicity, and social class have long been promoted as structuring the experiences of Caribbean people, but my analysis suggests that these operate more as sources of differentiation than of identification in Santo Domingo’s barrios. I examine the strategies and practices residents deploy to create value in place, overcome their localisation, and achieve progreso (progress) within the bounds of the state. These include transforming the material environment and its symbolic meanings, elaborating certain social hierarchies and contesting others, and developing locality-based political organisations. In the Caribbean, it has been usual for studies of cultural oppositions or dualisms to effectively constitute a different genre to studies of class, race, and globalization. My ethnography indicates that this distinction is false. Residents of La Ciénaga deploy cultural oppositions and notion of difference to define a place in the social hierarchies of the barrio and city, while simultaneously recognising the moral value and identical structural position of those around them. Popular politics in Santo Domingo are characterised by this tension between social stratification and the elaboration of cultural value in place. This thesis develops a political and social economy of value that addresses both the bases of stratification in the sphere of production and the ways in which projects of self-creation, such as through consumption, allow for the elaboration of cultural value and meaning for individuals and social groups. Given the importance of locality to popular politics, I argue that this integrated approach is necessary to any assessment of the transformative potential of community organisations and other political movements in Santo Domingo.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Art, June 1989. / Includes bibliographical references.

Every day the dependence on transportation grows as local, regional, national, and international independence increases. Resilient transportation systems are needed to secure the highest possible level of service during disruptive events, including natural and man-made disasters. Because of limited resources, decision makers need guidance on how, when, and where to invest to improve resiliency of their networks. The research objective is to develop a method to assess and quantify resiliency, at pre-event conditions, using a fuzzy inference approach. This research expands previous work, refining key variable definitions, adjusting model interactions, and increasing transparency between metrics. This thesis presents the method and provides an illustrative example of the methodology using the Dominican Republic as a case study. The example explains how a transportation network responds to a disruptive event and how specific investments can increase resiliency of the network. The result of this research is a quantitative basis for decision makers to conduct cost-benefit analysis of resiliency increasing projects.

This thesis examines how the slave uprising in the French Caribbean sugar colony of Saint-Domingue (1791-1804) had dramatic and long-lasting repercussions on the neighbouring Spanish possessions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo. Events in Saint-Domingue took place during a period of profound change in the Spanish colonies. Reforms implemented during the reign of Carlos III (1759-1788) had begun to shift the imperial economic focus from the extraction of precious metals in Spain's American colonies towards the potential of intensive agriculture, especially sugar. The process was accelerated by France's loss of Saint-Domingue in 1804, which presented the Spanish islands under Carlos IV (1788-1808) with the opportunity to have a much larger share of the sugar trade - a chance which Cuba and Puerto Rico were quick to seize. At the same time, Napoleon Bonaparte's overthrow of the Spanish monarchy, the war against France (1808-1814), and the writing of a Spanish constitution (1812) precipitated the unravelling of most of Spain's empire, bar the Philippines and the sugar islands in the Caribbean. The thesis focuses on how relations between Madrid and the Caribbean islands were significantly altered in the wake of peninsular upheaval. At the same time, this work also considers the islands' reconfigured relationship with new republic of Haiti, formed by the freed slaves of Saint-Domingue. Drawing from correspondence between the crown and the island authorities, as well as between colonial officials, this thesis also examines the culture of fear that permeated the Spanish possessions. Initially, this fear reflected anxieties about Saint-Domingue-style slave rebellions, but as mainland Spanish colonies became independent - and Santo Domingo fell under Haitian control in 1822 - this fear took on a new dimension and became a vital tie between Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Madrid, contributing to the continuation of colonial rule until the Spanish-American War of 1898.

La presente tesis estudia la portada de Santo Domingo de Soria, una de las parroquias románicas urbanas más interesantes de la Península Ibérica. El análisis se ha realizado desde una perspectiva globalizadora que abarca la historia, la historiografía, la arquitectura y la escultura. Para llevar a cabo la monografía se ha examinado el contenido iconográfico de las imágenes en relación con los textos y en comparación con otras obras de la misma esfera artística; de la misma manera, se han estudiado los estilemas así como su relación con ciertos talleres de los reinos peninsulares. La investigación pone de manifiesto que la iglesia soriana pertenece a una tradición hispana, de manera que la explicación de la tipología de la fachada no se entiende únicamente por la filiación francesa. El templo es el resultado de la ampliación de un edificio anterior a 1148, y de la construcción de la segunda mitad del siglo XII la parte más interesante es, sin duda, la fachada. Los ciclos escultóricos de su portada resultan ser de los más completos que se conservan en la actualidad, y además el programa permite profundizar en algunas de las principales preocupaciones de la Iglesia hispana (la doble naturaleza de Cristo y la Trinidad). El tímpano muestra una de las cinco representaciones escultóricas de la Paternitas trinitaria que existen en todo el contexto románico, un peculiar Tetramorfos portado en el Seno de los ángeles y dos personajes en los laterales. Mientras tanto, en las arquivoltas y capiteles se desarrollan varios relatos bíblicos que completan el asunto central, se trata del Génesis, Hechos de los apóstoles, Infancia, Pasión y Gloria. Aunque las escasas conexiones de algunas particularidades temáticas y compositivas no se explican más que por el conocimiento de modelos bizantinos, varios aspectos apuntan a que en ciertas dependencias silenses se encontraban temas similares. Los artistas sorianos proceden del foco oxomense y su estilo es fruto de una tradición hispana localizada en Castilla con conexiones interesantes sobre todo en Aragón y Navarra. Tanto en iconografía como en estilística, Santo Domingo se engloba en las tendencias del momento y los paralelos establecidos con las principales canterías indican que en torno a 1170 pudieron llevarse a cabo las obras de la fachada. Compendio entre los conceptos de Silos, el estilo de Osma y los temas de Bizancio con aportaciones puntuales de otros centros peninsulares, la importancia de Santo Domingo se refleja en las múltiples conexiones que se establecen a partir de un análisis riguroso del conjunto. / The present doctoral thesis studies the doorway of Santo Domingo in Soria, one of the most interesting urbain parishes in the Iberian Peninsula. The analysis has been done from a global perspective that includes history, historiography, architecture and sculpture. In order to prepare the monograph the iconographic mean of images has been examined in relation to the texts and in comparison with other works in the same artistic sphere; in the same way the stylistic features and their links with certain ateliers in the peninsular kingdoms have been studied.The investigation shows that the Sorian church belongs to a Spanish tradition, in such a way that the explanation of the façade tipology cannot only be understood by the French connection. The temple is the result of the enlarging of the building before 1148, and the most interesting part of the reconstruction during the second half of the twelfth century is, without doubt, the façade. The sculpturing cycles of its doorway are one of the most complete preserved at the present time, and also the programme lets us go into some of the main concerns of the Spanish Church (the double nature of Christ and the Trinity). The tympanum shows one of the five figural reliefs of the trinitary Paternitas that survives in all of the Romanesque context, a peculiar Tetramorph held in angel's breast and two figures placed in the laterals. Meanwhile, several biblical stories that complete the central theme (Genesis, Acts of the Apostles, Infancy, Passion and Glory) are developed in the ornamental archivolts and in the capitals. Although the scarce connections of certain peculiarities of form and theme aren't explained better than by what we know of Byzantine models, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that in certain silesian dependences there have been similar themes.The Sorian artists came from El Burgo de Osma focus, and their style is the fruit of a Spanish tradition that is located in Castile with interesting connections in Aragon and Navarre. Iconographically and stylistically Santo Domingo reflects the tendencies of the moment and the parallels that have been established with the main ateliers suggest that around 1170 the façade could have been carried out.Understood among the silesian's concepts, the Osma's style and the byzantine's themes with certain contributions of other peninsular centres, the importance of Santo Domingo is reflected in the multiple connections that can be established by a rigorous analysis of the whole.

Greenbelts have been used around the world to control urban growth and to enhance the natural environment of cities since the last century. However, some Latin American governments, influenced by urban renewal principles and modern planning, have implemented greenbelts to beautify and order cities. Much criticism has arisen about the social repercussions of using greenbelts as a way to control citizen behavior, which in many cases has resulted in exclusionary practices, especially of low-income populations. Based on a case study that documents and analyzes the uses and perceptions of residents of the informal settlement, Los Platanitos, of the Parque Nacional Mirador Norte, my research attempts to illuminate the political and social processes shaping urban environmental planning in Santo Domingo in order to understand practices of exclusion and marginalization in contexts marked by socioeconomic inequalities. / text

This master's thesis is an autoethnography. According to Denzin and Lincoln, an autoethnograpic piece "works to hold self and culture together, albeit not in equilibrium or stasis," (207). This thesis, presented in story form, tells how I was educated into and came to follow the "Good Path" in becoming a member of Santo Domingo Pueblo, and more specifically, a contemporary Santo Domingan woman. My story is framed within a Puebloan paradigm of remembrance as articulated through oral tradition, narrative and text, and the social and natural environments of my Santo Domingan world. Through introspection and reflection on the narratives, I elicit what I believe to be the foundational core values of Santo Domingo culture. I identify and reference these core values as Breath, Corn, Hair, and Family. It is through my stories that I have also come to understand the strength and power of oral traditional narratives and teachings.

Transportation planning initiatives are assumed to further the development of growing cities across the globe. Latin American cities, especially, suffer from a deficit of infrastructure that presents greater challenges to the efficient movement of people and goods, which makes transportation one of the biggest hindrances to development in Latin America. Throughout the twentieth century, development projects in the Dominican Republic were carried out in the contexts of foreign military occupation and state repression, whereby processes of technical modernization arrived alongside state-led violence. Meanwhile, grandiose infrastructure projects were paired with narratives of national greatness. Decisions regarding land use and distribution of public services remained inattentive of the poorest residents, causing enormous inequalities in increasingly urbanized cities. President Leonel Fernández campaigned for his third term promising to break from old forms of corruption, and has symbolically delivered this promise of progress through the construction of a new subway system. The Santo Domingo Metro revolutionizes transportation options in key areas of a chaotic and congested road system, where many public transportation vehicles are old and dilapidated. Metro can save hours in commute times, provide safe, reliable transit at low cost, and promote sustainability. However, critics note that billions of dollars invested on Metro expansion preempt the funding of health and education. Construction processes displace neighborhoods, while many communities situated near the stations still face daily hardships associated with inadequate housing and lack of sanitation. My paper blends the perspectives of technical transportation planning and critical development theory to understand whether the Metro will serve these communities by improving their access to services, schools, and job sites, or simply drain scarce funds from these very areas. This paper also critically evaluates the way that the current administration‘s symbol of progress at times mirrors the top-down political culture of the past. The Metro thus elucidates larger theoretical and practical questions regarding the interactions of transportation planning and political culture, and their impacts on spatial hierarchies and growth within urban spaces. / text

L’île de Saint-Domingue a gravé pour toujours dans la mémoire collective le souvenir de l’esclavage des noirs. Mais l’histoire de cette île ne se résume pas au malheureux sort des milliers d’Africains transportés dans cette colonie où ils furent réduits à n’être que des instruments de travail. Elle est aussi et avant tout l’histoire de ces nombreux Européens, avides de richesses, qui s’y ruèrent dans le but, soit d’acquérir une fortune qu’ils avaient du mal à se faire en métropole, soit d’accroître un potentiel déjà acquis. Les Galliffet dont nous nous proposons d’étudier l’expérience à travers cette recherche font partie de la seconde catégorie.Vers la fin du XVIIe siècle, ils acquéraient à Saint-Domingue par le biais Joseph de Galliffet (Gouverneur de Saint-Domingue de 1700 à 1703), leur premier bien situé à la Petite Anse dans la Plaine du Nord. Un siècle plus tard, ils étaient propriétaires de plusieurs milliers de carreaux de terres et de cinq habitations prospères, comptant un millier d’esclaves et dont les revenus les hissèrent au sommet d’une des plus grandes fortunes coloniales de l’île, mais aussi de France. L’histoire des Galliffet, si elle ne diffère pas trop de celle de bien d’autres planteurs, dont certains ont déjà fait l’objet de travaux (les Cottineau, les Noé, les Laborde, les Beauharnais), fascine en de nombreux points qui nous interpellent. Ainsi nous nous intéresserons à leur mode d’accession aux habitations, à l’organisation du travail sous la houlette du gérant, Nicolas Odelucq, de même qu’à sa façon de mener ‘’le cheptel humain’’ chargé des travaux. Nous nous pencherons également sur le rendement des plantations après leur rachat par les Galliffet. Par ailleurs, il courait à Saint-Domingue l’expression suivante : « heureux comme les esclaves à Galliffet ». Un bref rappel des conditions de vie des esclaves ne sera donc pas exclu, même si la question a, semble-t-il, déjà été évoquée dans une étude plus générale sur les habitations de la Plaine du nord par Karen Bourdier dans sa thèse soutenue en 2005 ou encore par Elyette Benjamin-Labarthe et Éric Dubesset dans un ouvrage commun. Le travail dans son ensemble sera basé sur des documents d’archives contenant des livres de comptes, des actes notariés de vente ou de conclusion de partenariat entre les Galliffet et leurs associés. On y étudiera aussi la correspondance personnelle des Galliffet avec leur gérant, dont nous attendons de précieux renseignements; notamment sur la vie quotidienne des habitations. Une série d’inventaires réalisés sur celles-ci dans les années 1770, 1780 et 1790, nous informeront sur les maladies des esclaves, leur taux de natalité et de mortalité, la division des tâches quotidiennes sur les différentes habitations. Enfin, il sera aussi question de voir les effets des révolutions (française et haïtienne) sur l'avenir des habitations Galliffet. / L'auteur n'a pas fourni de résumé en anglais