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Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor. Farmer, P. Berkeley and Los Angeles, Calif, University of California Press, 2005, hardcover, 402 pp, $27.50.
Pathologies of Power, is a text that examines medicine in the age of globalized poverty. Farmer writes from the point of view of a physician and anthropologist who has much experience dealing with poverty in his own medical practice in rural Haiti. He challenges us to look beyond the obvions symptoms of the nameless, faceless poor, in order to critically examine societal structures, which are the real causes of poverty and oppression in the world today. The term structural violence is used to describe the unequal distribution of power within the world and the resulting offenses against human dignity.
The book begins with a foreword written by economist and former Nobel Peace Prize winner, Amartya Sen. It appears that Farmer is using his mentor, Sen, to extend appeal of his central thesis to a larger audience. This strategy opens the door for Farmer to take many professions to task for their role in the development and maintenance of structural violence. Will we choose to participate in an authentic multidisciplinary dialogue and explore a badly needed paradigm shift of power in order to make the world a better place? In the foreword, Sen states, "Paul Farmer teaches us how to stop whistling and start thinking. We have reason to be grateful."
Pathologies of Power is then divided into 2 parts. The first part entitled "Bearing Witness" sets the stage to open our eyes, hearts, and consciousness as Farmer presents case studies of victims of structural violence. He shares stories of his patients and describes how structural violence has impacted not only their lives, but also the choices they and their families have had to make for survival. Farmer brilliantly allows his audience to connect on an...