Meet Raul Zecca Castel and Las Bateyeras

Raul Zecca Castel, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in cultural and social anthropology at the University of Milan-Bicocca (Italy). Since 2013, he has devoted himself to the study of the Haitian diaspora in the Dominican Republic and, especially, of the population living in the bateyes, Afro-descendant communities linked to agricultural labor on sugar cane plantations. He is the author of the books Come schiavi in liberta. Vita e lavoro dei tagliatori di canna da zucchero haitiani in Repubblica Dominicana (Arcoiris, 2015) and Mujeres. Frammenti di vita dal cuore dei Caraibi (Arcoiris, 2020), the latter now available in a Dominican edition under the title Bateyeras. Testimonies of Life from the Heart of the Caribbean (Ediciones Cielonaranja, 2022).

 

Where did the idea for this book come from?

I could say that it arose first and foremost from the desire to repay an enormous human debt. Let me explain: the book is the result of long fieldwork that I carried out in a batey in the Dominican Republic and it gathers the life stories and direct testimonies of seven women of Haitian origin with whom I had the pleasure of sharing daily life during the six months I spent in the community. That is why I consider the protagonists of this book to be its true authors, and deep down I felt that somehow I needed to give back the attention they gave me. This book is a tribute to bateyera women. At the same time, my interest was to highlight the complexity of life in the bateyes from a female perspective and, therefore, to make a marginalized reality visible. In 2015, as a result of my first ethnographic research work in different Dominican bateyes, I had published a book on the living and working conditions of cane cutters, and in that case my attention had been directed entirely toward the men of the bateyes. Hence the need to also investigate the female component.

What is the aim of this compilation?

The purpose of this work is to make the reality of the bateyes, and specifically the lives of women, known to a wide readership, not only Dominican, so that they may become aware of what it means to live or, rather, survive in a context of marginalization and overwhelming social, economic, and "racial" discrimination. I hope that, through the words of the protagonists, the book will serve as an awareness-raising tool and, personally, I am convinced that awareness is the first necessary step toward transformation and progress.

How were the participants chosen and what was the process of collecting the testimonies like?

The truth is that everything was very natural and spontaneous. I usually say that I did not choose the voices that make up the book; rather, they themselves became its protagonists. It is a compilation of accounts, experiences, and life stories. I want to emphasize that the book is the result of collective and collaborative work. I did not even record the interviews and conversations I had with the women, but I did gather many notes and reflections that I later sent to the seven protagonists so that they could make any interventions they wished, modifying, cutting, or adding to the text, and thus fully recognize themselves in the book. I would also like to add that this book is not representative of the bateyera woman. That was not my intention. On the contrary, each of the seven protagonists is representative only of herself, of her own particular experience.

 

What are the plans for promoting the book?

The Dominican edition was a great satisfaction for me, after it first appeared in Italy through Edizioni Arcoiris. I must thank Miguel D. Mena, from the publishing house Cielonaranja, because from the beginning he believed in this project and worked so that it could finally circulate, both through sales and through cultural promotion at the upcoming book fair (FIL) toward the end of April in Santo Domingo's Colonial Zone. My greatest wish now would be for the book to be published in French or, even better, in Kreyol, so that it can circulate in Haiti.