Serendipitous Involvement: Making Peace in the Geto

For Federico Neiburg the involvement was direct with the people he was working with in Haiti, as his assistance was requested to help solve conflicts in the urban area where he was carrying out his research. Responding positively was both an ethical necessity and a pragmatic approach to be able to pursue the research safely. It generated new openings for the ethnography as well as criticisms from outsiders and frustrations among insiders. But on the whole, albeit unexpected and unprepared, this observant participation in a process of local pacification enriched and deepened the understanding of the logics of war and peace on an island that is chronically subjected to political as well as everyday violence.