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Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights and the New War on the Poor by Paul Farmer, Amartya Sen
sonialusiveira's review against another edition
4.0
"...let unwelcome truths be told"
Pathologies of Power is a collection of essays about the global epidemic of human suffering that was caused by imbalances of power throughout the world. The author uses anecdotes from his experience witnessing the brutal conditions in Russian prisons to remote communities in Haiti and Chiapas that lack access to proper hygiene. The book is divided into two parts. The first one uses the anecdotes to demonstrate how government corruption and human rights violations cause the structural violence in the society and the suffering of millions of people. The second part discusses how the right to health care should be a birth right to every human being; the author uses the arguments that were based on medical ethics, how the current healthcare system is market driven, the international politics and the foreign policy that tend to be economical in allocating resources, eg. Russian prisoners with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis “were receiving a wholly ineffective treatment on the ground of cost-effectiveness”.
This book was first published in 2003 but eighteen years later, and it is still as relevant as ever. The mainstream media has been saying the same thing over and over that the global pandemic of Covid-19 has brought to the surface all underlying societal issues, including the structural violence. The imbalance of power in society has played a big role in chosen which victims were affected the most by Covid-19. Just in my country Timor-Leste, a couple weeks ago, some police beat up two street sellers saying they violate Covid-19 restrictions but let loose some powerful politician’s family that held a party with approximately more than 50 partygoers. Also, in the first rollout of the covid19 vaccine program that was supposed to target the frontliners, instead we found the politician’s family and people with connections were the ones who were in the line to get the first roll of the vaccines. Anyways, I guess reading the book brought back all these bitter feelings about how the inequality is so embedded in the fabric of our society and the world has a very long way to go to solve it.
Pathologies of Power is a collection of essays about the global epidemic of human suffering that was caused by imbalances of power throughout the world. The author uses anecdotes from his experience witnessing the brutal conditions in Russian prisons to remote communities in Haiti and Chiapas that lack access to proper hygiene. The book is divided into two parts. The first one uses the anecdotes to demonstrate how government corruption and human rights violations cause the structural violence in the society and the suffering of millions of people. The second part discusses how the right to health care should be a birth right to every human being; the author uses the arguments that were based on medical ethics, how the current healthcare system is market driven, the international politics and the foreign policy that tend to be economical in allocating resources, eg. Russian prisoners with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis “were receiving a wholly ineffective treatment on the ground of cost-effectiveness”.
This book was first published in 2003 but eighteen years later, and it is still as relevant as ever. The mainstream media has been saying the same thing over and over that the global pandemic of Covid-19 has brought to the surface all underlying societal issues, including the structural violence. The imbalance of power in society has played a big role in chosen which victims were affected the most by Covid-19. Just in my country Timor-Leste, a couple weeks ago, some police beat up two street sellers saying they violate Covid-19 restrictions but let loose some powerful politician’s family that held a party with approximately more than 50 partygoers. Also, in the first rollout of the covid19 vaccine program that was supposed to target the frontliners, instead we found the politician’s family and people with connections were the ones who were in the line to get the first roll of the vaccines. Anyways, I guess reading the book brought back all these bitter feelings about how the inequality is so embedded in the fabric of our society and the world has a very long way to go to solve it.
amberyac's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5
dee9401's review against another edition
3.0
Prior to my trip to Santa Fe, I finished reading Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor, by Paul Farmer. I wanted to finish it up before I moderated our HIV/AIDS panel at CGS’s second annual conference. I wanted to see if there was any great material I could draw on for my portion of the panel.
This is a great book, which really helped drill in his concept of “a preferential option for the poor”. It laid out a solid epidemiological case and backed it up with deep ethnography. It seems that Paul’s combination of anthropology and medicine are perfect for confronting the deeper structural issues of modern plagues. He argues effectively about the fallacy of cost effectiveness. We must treat people with infectious diseases. It’s not fair to offer one class of people one thing and another class a lesser option. He also argues that treatment vs. prevention is a false dichotomy. With millions already infected with HIV and millions with TB (both regular and multiple drug resistant strains), we don’t have the option to exclude those who are already sick. Their sickness is often a manifestation of structural violence. The situations they find themselves in contribute as much, and often times more, to their infections than do their individual agency (ability to affect their own lives).
Infectious disease in the modern world is as much about class and politics as it is about bacteria and viruses.
I found an earlier book of his, [b:Infections and Inequalities|10233|Infections and Inequalities The Modern Plagues|Paul Farmer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166152608s/10233.jpg|12952]: The Modern Plagues, to be a better read. But this book is certainly one to have in your hand. I wanted to say have on your shelf, but these types of books need to be used, not just used to decorate your bookshelves.
This is a great book, which really helped drill in his concept of “a preferential option for the poor”. It laid out a solid epidemiological case and backed it up with deep ethnography. It seems that Paul’s combination of anthropology and medicine are perfect for confronting the deeper structural issues of modern plagues. He argues effectively about the fallacy of cost effectiveness. We must treat people with infectious diseases. It’s not fair to offer one class of people one thing and another class a lesser option. He also argues that treatment vs. prevention is a false dichotomy. With millions already infected with HIV and millions with TB (both regular and multiple drug resistant strains), we don’t have the option to exclude those who are already sick. Their sickness is often a manifestation of structural violence. The situations they find themselves in contribute as much, and often times more, to their infections than do their individual agency (ability to affect their own lives).
Infectious disease in the modern world is as much about class and politics as it is about bacteria and viruses.
I found an earlier book of his, [b:Infections and Inequalities|10233|Infections and Inequalities The Modern Plagues|Paul Farmer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166152608s/10233.jpg|12952]: The Modern Plagues, to be a better read. But this book is certainly one to have in your hand. I wanted to say have on your shelf, but these types of books need to be used, not just used to decorate your bookshelves.
wmapayne's review against another edition
5.0
Pathologies of Power is a powerful argument which charges the global health community to reconsider some of its deepest assumptions, and challenges readers to reconsider how they go about helping the poor.
This book will make you mad. Farmer has collected anecdotes and research from multiple locations around the world that powerfully demonstrate the wholesale failure of health policymakers to act in accordance with basic ethics. He also derides the United States's claimed position as a global force for good, describing how our country usually acts in self-interest more than for real moral good.
This is a powerful, if somewhat technical, thesis that deserves credence from anyone in the public health or policymaking community. Farmer writes from his lived experience among the world's poor, and his words ring true.
This book will make you mad. Farmer has collected anecdotes and research from multiple locations around the world that powerfully demonstrate the wholesale failure of health policymakers to act in accordance with basic ethics. He also derides the United States's claimed position as a global force for good, describing how our country usually acts in self-interest more than for real moral good.
This is a powerful, if somewhat technical, thesis that deserves credence from anyone in the public health or policymaking community. Farmer writes from his lived experience among the world's poor, and his words ring true.
hades9stages's review against another edition
3.0
this isn’t the first time i’ve read something by farmer. and alas my review for this book will be the same as his last, and his articles.
reading this book isn’t a disappointing experience. you learn a lot. sure. it definitely contains information from a wide range of sources about a wide range of places and issues.
but it’s exhausting. it feels consistently like farmer has just copied and pasted statistics after statistics with non stop information in the most robotic manner possible.
reading this book isn’t a disappointing experience. you learn a lot. sure. it definitely contains information from a wide range of sources about a wide range of places and issues.
but it’s exhausting. it feels consistently like farmer has just copied and pasted statistics after statistics with non stop information in the most robotic manner possible.
leavingsealevel's review against another edition
4.0
What do I even say about this book? Paul Farmer's my hero. These essays are amazing. If I ever write a book (ha), I want it to be this smart and this angry and this beautiful.
...see, I have only trite things to say about this. That's how good it is. So read it.
...see, I have only trite things to say about this. That's how good it is. So read it.
steds's review against another edition
4.0
Great basis for anyone looking to root their life, work or study in the vein of Freire/lib theo. Also a wonderful introduction to the orientation of those working in the field practically and for broader goals of social justice as well as modern issues in bioethics and current trends in global diseases. Overall engaging and useful.