Laurent Dubois - A Colony of Citizens

This book was born of travels back and forth across the Atlantic, from Michigan to Aix-en-Provence, from Guadeloupe to Paris, travels through which I have accumulated unpayable debts and invaluable friendships. It began as a dissertation at the University of Michigan, where I was surrounded by nurturing teachers. Throughout, Fernando Coronil inspired and pushed me with his intellect and passion for the possibilities of using knowledge for the present and the future. I thank him for his example and friendship. Rebecca Scotts contagious energy and intellectual example shaped this project, and she constantly communicated to me both the opportunities and responsibilities that come with historical work. Julius Scott, who travels in the same historical waters I do, has inspired me through his ability to bring to life the world of the Caribbean in ways I can only hope to emulate. Ruth Behar, David Bien, Frederick Cooper, Simon Gikandi, and Ann Stoler all contributed in important ways to the evolution of the project. I owe a great deal to my fellow travelers at Michigan, who heard more than they wanted to about Guadeloupe as we grew into an intellectual family. Martha Baker, Paul Eiss, Mandana Limbert, Setrag Manoukian, and Steven Pierce read drafts of various chapters. David Pedersen always got me thinking about my categories. And with Aims McGuinness I shared the joys of writing about seemingly marginal places.

During my first year of research in Aix-en-Provence, conversations with Marie-Jose Bussenius, Priska Dgras, Edris Makward, and Adlai Murdoch gave early direction to my research. Conversations with Assia Djebar, whose work of memory is a model for me, stirred my imagination. As I first stumbled into the archives, I had the remarkable luck of finding Stewart King there. Stewart was working in the notarial registers of Saint-Domingue for his dissertation, now a book, and with startling generosity showed me his methods, including his well-constructed database, on which I modeled much of my research. It was also in Aix that I met Gary Wilder, and our conversations over French cafeteria food initiated an enduring intellectual camaraderie. Garys humor keeps me laughing even when he isnt around, his work has influenced this book profoundly, and the promise of continuing discussions with him has made the work of research and writing worthwhile.

A fortuitous encounter at the Archives nationales in Paris led to a fruitful dialogue with Patrick Weil, whose input has been fundamental in the development of my ideas on citizenship and the meaning of Republican culture. His center (CEPIC) provided a home base in Paris, and he helped me bring the eighteenth century into dialogue with the twentieth, both through the seminar he organized and by inviting me to be part of a government commission on immigration reform in the summer of 1997. Conversations with Erik Bleich and Daniel Cohen, fellow researchers at the CEPIC during 19961997, as well as with Carlo Celius and Myriam Cottias, were also vital in the development of ideas. Patrick furthermore opened doors that enabled me to publish a part of my dissertation in 1998 under the title Les Esclaves de la Rpublique: LHistoire oublie de la premire mancipation, 17891794 , with Editions Calmann-Lvy (Paris, 1998). My editor there, Olivier Nora, was generous to take a risk on the book. The reviews of Les Esclaves de la Rpublique and the conversations I had with readers helped me to rethink and expand my ideas herein. Michel Girauds enthusiasm for the book honored and encouraged me. And there was little more I could wish for once I learned my book was being sold at the supermarket in Basse-Terre.

For my 19961997 year in Paris, I thank the Franco-American Commission for Educational Exchange, which oversaw the Fulbright grant that allowed me to do my research. Further research in France and Guadeloupe was funded by a grant from the Georges Lurcy Charitable and Educational Trust. The beginnings of the project were nurtured by a Pre-Dissertation Fellowship from the Council for European Studies at Columbia University and a Hewlett-Rackham dissertation grant from the University of Michigan. The staffs of the Archives nationales and the Bibliothque nationale in Paris, the Archives historiques de larme de terre in Vincennes, the Centre des archives doutre-mer in Aix-en-Provence, the Archives dpartementales de la Guyane, the William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and the Library of Congress provided invaluable assistance through my years of research. And Laird Pruixsma did me an enormous service by creating a computer program that converts Republican dates to Gregorian ones.

For his teachings I thank Erol Josu, who introduced me to the world of Vodou in Paris and in so doing changed my vision of the past and the present. I also thank Lionel Saintval for his friendship. In Guadeloupe, Brigitte and Hugues Delannay were infinitely hospitable; their vision of their islands history shaped this project, and their family introduced me to Voukoum. During trips to Guadeloupe and Paris, I was also lucky enough to come to know Daniel Maximin, whose writing, cultural work, and enthusiasm for bringing history alive inspired me throughout this undertaking. I thank Ghislaine Bouchet, the Director of the Archives dpartementales de la Guadeloupe, for her hospitality, as well as Carlomann Bassette, Christian Froleau, Dimitri Garnier, and Sainte-Croix Lacour. Frderic Rgent, who knows more than anyone about the archives and the history of revolutionary Guadeloupe, generously shared portions of his dissertation-in-progress with me. He is the only person with whom I could hotly debate precisely which wigmaker from Basse-Terre had signed a certain petition. I am also grateful to Fabien Marius-Hatchi for sharing his work with me.