Abstract The general concern of this paper revolves around the interplay between state and unofficial law in rural Haiti. By looking at the complex relation between legal and extrajudicial means of managing the consequences of a homicide, I examine the dynamics of imposition, appropriation, and resistance to state law in a postcolonial context. Yet, my concern is less with the devastating manifestation of overt violence than with the quotidian struggles people have to deal with, which I call “the silent wars of the ordinary.” Through a close description of the case at hand, I aim to draw a different picture of what commonly counts as law, as well as the ways in which people relate to the judiciary. My ambition is to allow for another understanding of the making of ordinary legality by demonstrating how the silent wars of the ordinary are intrinsically constitutive of such making.

中文翻译：

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普通人的无声战争：海地的邻国和司法系统

摘要 本文的普遍关注围绕海地农村国家法律与非官方法律之间的相互作用展开。通过研究处理凶杀后果的法律手段和法外手段之间的复杂关系，我考察了后殖民背景下强加、挪用和抵制国家法律的动态。然而，我关心的不是公开暴力的破坏性表现，而是人们必须应对的日常斗争，我称之为“普通人的无声战争”。通过对手头案件的详细描述，我的目标是描绘出通常被视为法律的不同画面，以及人们与司法机构的联系方式。