Publication

This essay considers the reaction of Afro-Dominican peasants in the San Juan Valley to the Dominican modernization campaign initiated by local elites in the latter half of the 19th century. The author explains how the elites hoped that modern reforms would stamp out the "primitive" national habits and how peasants used Vodú to articulate an alternative vision of the "modern" future. The author discusses racial and regional geographies of Dominican modernity with a particular focus on Liborismo, a movement based on the messianic leader Olivorio Mateo (often called Liborio) and offering an alternative vision of Dominican modernity.