Dr. Renald Clerisme, former Haitian ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), delegate to many UN conferences on trade and economic development, is a renowned anthropologist. He will give a rare insider’s view on the human cost of the free trade agreements that have been implemented over the past decade as both a diplomat and an expert on developing countries and their cultures.

He will speak at Wayne State University, on Wednesday, December 7, at 12 noon. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the Alumni Lounge.

“While discussion of NAFTA, GATT and other treaties is widespread among politicians and business people, this is a rare opportunity to hear the views of a noted scholar, who has worked in the corridors of power as well as academe,” said Thomas Killion, chair of the department of Anthropology in the Wayne State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Dr. Clerisme, speaks as an expert on economics, trade and world affairs, but also as a humanist.”

Clerisme served as ambassador and special Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a delegate to the General Assembly of the Complete Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), in Vienna, Austria, September 2003.

"My goal is to work continuously toward sustainable development in the spirit of conciliation and tolerance,” said Clerisme. “The gap between industrialized members of the WTO and its small nations is wide. Some consider the WTO’s promotion of globalization and free trade problematic, but I believe isolation is not an option.”

Clerisme was ambassador of Haiti to the WTO, the International Trade Center (ITC), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland from 2001-2003.

He served as president and co-president of task forces of the WTO on -- Budget, Finances and Administration Committee on the accounting of contributions; transforming the Swiss Agency for International Trade Information and Cooperation (AITIC) to a non-governmental agency. He was delegate plenipotentiary to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna Austria, 2001 -- 2003. He was minister counselor to Haiti\'s Permanent Mission to the Office of the United Nations in Geneva, responsible for affairs dealing with the WTO and UNCTAD. He also represented Haiti at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna as delegate to WTO conferences in Singapore, Geneva, Seattle and Cancun, as well as several conferences organized by UNCTAD in Geneva, Bangkok and Brussels and WIPO in Lisbon.

Clerisme completed his B.A. in France, 1967; received a M.A. in Anthropology, from New York University, in 1975, and also a M.A. in Philosophy from Yale University in 1993. In addition he received his Ph.D., in Anthropology from Yale in 1996. Clerisme has received honors from the Fulbright/LAPSAU; Yale University Fellowship; and the Mellon Foundation. He is fluent in Haitian Creole, French, English and Spanish; and he is an authority on economics, development and cultural anthropology. He is an expert on Haitian culture, Vodoun, African Haitian religion and Peasantry and Haitian-Dominican relations.

Clerisme has traveled extensively in the Caribbean, the Americas, Europe and Africa. He is especially known for his works with Haitian peasant organizations, cultural and anthropological research among the peasants in Haiti, his publications and his book, Main-d\'oeuvre haïtienne and capital dominicain (Haitian Labor and Dominican Capital), Paris, France, 2003.

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