OCTOBER 3, 2025
The Haitian Revolution and the Concept of the Legal Form: Capitalism, Slavery and the Universality Paradigm 
A widely recognized interpretation of the Haitian Revolution (1791–1804) posits that it played a central role in the genesis of human rights and universalism, owing to its unparalleled abolition of the foremost example of particularism: the institution of slavery. However, this interpretation, which may be referred to as the ‘universality paradigm,’ has prompted a wave of ‘sceptical responses’ that emphasize authoritarianism and inequality.

Building on E. B. Pashukanis’s concept of the legal form, this article examines the significance and limits of other Marxist interpretations of the Haitian Revolution, while challenging both advocates and critics of the universality paradigm. It argues that the Haitian Revolution recalibrated the pre-revolutionary imbalance between the dominance of the commodity form and the underdevelopment of the legal form, and that its outcomes align more closely with the age of the legal form under capitalism than with the era of overt privilege.

Ultimately, a Pashukanian account of the Haitian Revolution suggests that universalism and rights anchored in the legal form of capitalism do not so much contradict as conform to – and reflect – structural inequality and the relationship between labour power and capital.

Personal Profile: I hold a PhD in sociology and my dissertation, entitledInterpreting the Haitian Revolution: From the Rights of man to Human Rights, was completed in 2022. I am employed as a postdoctoral researcher in Human Rights studies, and affiliated with Sophiapol (Sociologie, Philosophie et Anthropologie Politique) at Université Paris Nanterre. 

My research interests include marxist as well as non-marxist critique of right, the history and contemporary status of human rights, the Haitian Revolution, Marxist theory, social movements, revolution theory, and methodological issues relating to ideoogy critique. I have taught sociology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, supervised bachelor's theses, and have also taught at the masterprogram in psychology and at the teacher education programs, as well as providing instruction on the history and theory of science to students in the natural sciences.

I am a member of the editorial board for the journal Röda rummet, and of the advisory board of the journal Fronesis.