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Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights and the New War on the Poor by Paul Farmer, Amartya Sen
garmstrong's review against another edition
4.0
Paul Farmer is my favourite anthropologist who I look up to very much - this book is easy to read, is not laden down by academic jargon and is eye opening and important.
bdivakaran's review against another edition
3.0
Paul Farmer is an inspiration to me and his voice is so important. This book felt a bit dated as I read it, but he informs readers about important past events and argues crucial moral/ethical points that arise from them which are today no less relevant/important. He calls for not just consideration of these questions, but action to protect the rights and health of the most vulnerable humans. This is a intellectual book, requiring work to slog through at points, but I'm glad to have read it to glean from his insights.
jaclyn_youngblood's review against another edition
5.0
I like learning from books. This book taught me a number of things (read: statistics, vocabulary, frameworks) that I didn't know before. By itself, that usually pushes me toward a 4- or 5-star rating. But Farmer argues in such a way that I found myself near or in tears many times throughout the book. Maybe that's one of the unhelpful responses to overwhelming inequity, but it's what happened and it was powerful for me. I love that this is more than a decade old now; it provided great fodder for additional digging and understanding where the topics about which he wrote then are now. My first exposure to Farmer was through Tracy Kidder; I really enjoyed having first-hand access to Farmer's thoughts and emotions.
kpeninger's review against another edition
5.0
You want to see human rights activism in action? Paul Farmer breaks it down for us- poverty is injustice and an abuse of human rights, and it affects everything in a person's life- including health care. This book will make you feel horrified and guilty and will make you realize that hey, maybe things aren't as good as you thought they were. An important book for anyone, but especially those invested in human rights advocacy.
aunnalea's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the chapter that talked about liberation theology the most. It was great to read about someone who believes in the preferential option for the poor without a religious bent to it.
wpayne'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.
megholo's review against another edition
Reading for my cross-cultural health systems class. Some of the chapters could be interesting, some of them got quite dry. Evoked a lot of emotional responses. I don't agree with some of what Farmer is saying.
obiebyke's review against another edition
5.0
I've been meaning to read some Farmer for years now and finally got around to it. Gave me a whole new perspective on how the world works, and a new way to think about global inequality.
jdoetsch's review
3.0
I couldn't really get into this book. It's possible that I misunderstood the overall thesis of the book.
He did a very good job going into details of rights abuses in various parts of the world (mostly Haiti). What was missing for me was some sort of unifying theory or framework to deal with these abuses. It just didn't really draw me in.
He did a very good job going into details of rights abuses in various parts of the world (mostly Haiti). What was missing for me was some sort of unifying theory or framework to deal with these abuses. It just didn't really draw me in.