At the Root of Things

In Paul Farmer’s “Pathologies of Power: Structural Suffering and Violence”, he believes that the connection between structural suffering and human rights is always in play: that one underlies the other. He helps us to see that we must go beyond the immediate symptom and look at the larger systemic issues or conditions, as they are the root causes of the suffering. Examples of the economic and political forces that cause this type of suffering are war, famine, forced deportation, poverty, terrorism, racism, disease, etc. In Farmer’s story, both of the Haitians he points to, as examples of people whose lives were affected by these structural conditions, were also, first and foremost, poor. They didn’t necessarily start out that way either, yet both of them lived in circumstances that were greatly affected by social and political forces (human decisions) that were out of their control. One lived in a settlement for refugees, after having been displaced from her family’s abundant farming community, due to the flooding of lands through the construction of a large dam. The higher lands her family was then forced to go to had poor soil, and it was impossible to maintain the standard of living of the bountiful harvests of the past. They were then forced into poverty and desperate conditions, which influenced some of the critical decisions she made out of desperation, in order to try to maintain even a modicum of standard economic life. Ultimately, this cost her, her life. Therefore, the underlying decision to put a dam on bountiful farmland, despite the needs and livelihoods of the local people, resulted in a tragic situation that ended in poverty, desperation, disease, and loss of life. The life of the second Haitian in the story also ended tragically…a direct consequence of a political situation: the corruption of a non-democratically elected government, which seized the reigns of power by overthrowing the government chosen by the people. His outspokenness on the matter meant he was blacklisted and targeted, and ultimately died a tragic death. Both of these characters were “victims of structural violence and suffering” (40). Each of their lives was dominated by the “others” who were in power. This is the “pathology of power” that Paul Farmer is referring to.

I was struck by Farmer’s concern in explaining the struggle and suffering of the people, in a way that is meaningful and understood by others who are unrelated. He emphasizes the importance of “understanding the underlying mechanisms that produce it (suffering)” (41) and that we must “embed individual biography in the larger matrix of culture, history and political economy” (41). When I consider my community partner, Parent Services Project, I can’t help but agree. Farmer discourages us from pure “facts, figures, and reportings” and emphasizes bringing life to the “anonymous victims who have little voice, let alone rights in history” (41). The voices of the parents at the PSP early education program are small, because these are the voices of marginalized immigrants in society who are low income, typically have a low level of education, who also have difficulty expressing themselves in English, their second language. The relationship between these individuals and society is a tenuous one. There is no question that to see them as people, in the context of their cultural and historical backgrounds, with knowledge of their current stories (of how they got here and what they hope to accomplish), that this will make for a more personal and human connection. The structural violence in the case of these immigrants lies in the fact that some of them are here illegally. Our country is currently targeting illegal immigrants for deportation. It creates fear around the basic right to exist. The right to live here with a sense of security and safety is being violated. The threat is real and can result in either splitting up families, or crushing their hopes and dreams of better opportunities and a better future.