Traces the rise and fall of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, twice removed president of Haiti, one time priest and champion of the poor, and exiled authoritarian leader whose failed claim to power galvanized world politics. Centered on his political career, this book explores power and hierarchy in the capitalist world-system.

This compelling book offers a comprehensive analysis of the struggle for democracy in Haiti, set in the context of the tumultuous rise and fall of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Written by one of the world's leading scholars of Haiti, The Prophet and Power explores the crisis of democratization in a poor, underdeveloped, peripheral society with a long history of dictatorial rule by a tiny ruling class opposed to changing the status quo and dependent on international economic and political support. Situating the country in its global context, Alex Dupuy considers the structures and relations of power between Haiti and the core capitalist countries and the forces struggling for and against social change.