The Devil behind the Mirror: Globalization and Politics in the Dominican Republic

In The Devil behind the Mirror, Steven Gregory provides a compelling and intimate account of the impact that transnational processes associated with globalization are having on the lives and livelihoods of people in the Dominican Republic. Grounded in ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the adjacent towns of Boca Chica and Andrés, Gregory's study deftly demonstrates how transnational flows of capital, culture, and people are mediated by contextually specific power relations, politics, and history. He explores such topics as the informal economy, the making of a telenova, sex tourism, and racism and discrimination against Haitians, who occupy the lowest rung on the Dominican economic ladder. Innovative, beautifully written, and now updated with a new preface, The Devil behind the Mirror masterfully situates the analysis of global economic change in everyday lives.

Steven Gregory is Professor of Anthropology and African-American Studies at Columbia University. He is the author of Santería in New York City: A Study in Cultural Resistance and Black Corona: Race and the Politics of Place in an Urban Community. He coedited Race with Roger Sanjek.