Partner to the Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader (California Series in Public Anthropology)

678 Pages·2010·8.96 MB·English

by  Paul Farmer

a naomi schneider book

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Partner to the Poor
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California SerieS in PubliC anthroPology
The California Series in Public anthropology emphasizes the anthropologist’s role as an engaged
intellectual. it continues anthropology’s commitment to being an ethnographic witness, to de-
scribing, in human terms, how life is lived beyond the borders of many readers’ experiences. but it
also adds a commitment, through ethnography, to reframing the terms of public debate—trans-
forming received, accepted understandings of social issues with new insights, new framings.
Series editor: robert borofsky (hawaii Pacific university)
Contributing editors: Philippe bourgois (university of Pennsylvania), Paul farmer
(Partners in health), alex hinton (rutgers university), Carolyn nordstrom
(university of notre Dame), and nancy Scheper-hughes (uC berkeley)
university of California Press editor: naomi Schneider
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Paul Farmer
Partner to the Poor
A Paul Farmer Reader
Edited by
haun Saussy
Foreword by
tracy Kidder
univerSity of California PreSS
Berkeley Los Angeles London
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for Didi,
Catherine, elisabeth, and Sebastien
university of California Press, one of the most distinguished
university presses in the united States, enriches lives around the
world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences,
and natural sciences. its activities are supported by the uC Press
foundation and by philan thropic contributions from individuals
and institutions. for more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
university of California Press
berkeley and los angeles, California
university of California Press, ltd.
london, england
© 2010 by The regents of the university of California
library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
farmer, Paul, 1959–

Partner to the poor : a Paul farmer reader / Paul farmer ;
edited by haun Saussy.
p. ; cm.
includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-520-25711-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn 978-0-520-25713-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Poor—Medical care. 2. Medical anthropology. 3. Social

medicine. 4. epidemiology. 5. Public health. i. Saussy,

haun, 1960– ii. title.
[DNLM: 1. Poverty—Personal narratives. 2. Social Medicine—

Personal narratives. 3. internationality—Personal narratives.

4. Physician's role—Personal narratives. 5. Social Justice—

Personal narratives. WA 31 F234p 2009]
RA418.5.P6F375 2010
362.1086 '942—dc22 2009038154

Manufactured in the united States of america
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Cascades enviro 100, a 100% post con-
sumer waste, recycled, de-inked fiber. fSC recycled certified
and processed chlorine free. it is acid free, ecologo certified,
and manufactured by biogas energy.
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Contents
foreword: Seeing the Proof
Tracy Kidder ix
introduction: The right to Claim rights
Haun Saussy 1
Part 1. Ethnography, History, Political Economy
introduction to Part 1
Paul Farmer 27
1. bad blood, Spoiled Milk: bodily fluids as Moral barometers
in rural haiti (1988) 33
2. Sending Sickness: Sorcery, Politics, and Changing Concepts
of aiDS in rural haiti (1990) 62
3. The exotic and the Mundane: human immunodeficiency
virus in haiti (1990) 94
4. ethnography, Social analysis, and the Prevention of Sexually
transmitted hiv infection among Poor Women in haiti (1997) 121
5. from haiti to rwanda: aiDS and accusations (2006) 136
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Part 2. Anthropology amid Epidemics
introduction to Part 2
Paul Farmer 151
6. rethinking “emerging infectious Diseases” (1996, 1999) 155
7. Social Scientists and the new tuberculosis (1997) 174
8. optimism and Pessimism in tuberculosis Control:
lessons from rural haiti (1999) 195
9. Cruel and unusual: Drug-resistant tuberculosis as
Punishment (1999) 206
10. The Consumption of the Poor: tuberculosis in the
twenty-first Century (2000) 222
11. Social Medicine and the Challenge of biosocial research (2000) 248
12. The Major infectious Diseases in the World—to treat

or not to treat? (2001) 266
13. integrated hiv Prevention and Care Strengthens Primary
health Care: lessons from rural haiti (2004)
David A. Walton, Paul Farmer, Wesler Lambert, Fernet Léandre,
Serena P. Koenig, and Joia S. Mukherjee 270
14. aiDS in 2006—Moving toward one World, one hope? (2006)

Jim Yong Kim and Paul Farmer 287
Part 3. Structural Violence
introduction to Part 3
Paul Farmer 293
15. Women, Poverty, and aiDS (1996) 298
16. on Suffering and Structural violence: Social and economic
rights in the global era (1996, 2003) 328
17. an anthropology of Structural violence (2001, 2004) 350
18. Structural violence and Clinical Medicine (2006)
Paul Farmer, Bruce Nizeye, Sara Stulac, and Salmaan Keshavjee 376
19. Mother Courage and the Costs of War (2008) 393
20. “landmine boy” and Stupid Deaths (2008) 409
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Part 4. Human Rights and a Critique of Medical Ethics
introduction to Part 4
Paul Farmer 429
21. rethinking health and human rights: time for a Paradigm
Shift (1999, 2003) 435
22. rethinking Medical ethics: a view from below (2004)
Paul Farmer and Nicole Gastineau Campos 471
23. never again? reflections on human values and
human rights (2005) 487
24. rich World, Poor World: Medical ethics and
global inequality (2006) 528
25. Making human rights Substantial (2008) 545
Conclusion: an interview (2009)
Paul Farmer and Haun Saussy 561
Acknowledgments 577
Works Cited 579
Editorial Note and Credits 639
Index 643
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