Everyday Resilience Strategies of Haitian Immigrant-Serving NGOs in the Dominican Republic: An Analysis of Community Work Experiences

Abstract

ABSTRACT An organization that has everyday resilience can withstand ongoing adversities. Previous studies on organizational resilience commonly examine capabilities to bounce back from acute disturbances such as natural disasters. This study, however, explores the strategies that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) employ to persist in the face of chronic challenges. In doing so, I analyze qualitative interviews with 20 NGO actors, who serve the Haitian immigrant population in the Dominican Republic. Specifically, I examine their community work experiences in order to, first, identify the challenges they face that are related to an uncertain sociopolitical environment that marginalizes Haitians and Dominico-Haitians. Next, I describe the strategies that they use to respond to these challenges. Finally, I critique their everyday resilience strategies to shed light on possible alternative approaches that may help to transform the social conditions in which they work. Findings reveal that challenges consist of community conflict, deportations and threats of removal, and contentious micro-level interactions. The everyday resilience strategies recognized include making initiatives inclusive, developing and using social connections, and using strategic communication. I propose that NGOs ensure their programming includes human rights education and intergroup dialogue, build power through networks, and engage in discursive resistance. This research advances a deeper understanding of the ongoing organizational challenges, common everyday resilience strategies, and prospects for Haitian-immigrant-serving NGOs in the Dominican Republic to use transformative approaches.