5.7—“Suffering and Structural Violence,” Paul Farmer
How to define suffering, and then how to establish a “hierarchy of suffering” that is just?
The question: how do social forces and influences determine a structured risk for
disease, poverty, or violence?
The Picture in Haiti
In 1973, the actual wage for a day’s work on a coffee plantation was between
$.07 and $.15.
1991’s “human suffering index” resulted in Haiti as the only ranked country in
the Western hemisphere
--the only three countries worse than Haiti were embroiled in
internationally recognized civil wars
Life expectancy is less than 50 years, largely due to 2 out of every 10 infants
dying before their 1st birthday
Tuberculosis and AIDS are the top two killers of adults; for children, “diarrheal
disease, measles, and tetanus ravage the undernourished” (370)
But suffering does not translate to graphs and statistics.
Farmer makes the case that, “What these victims, past and present, share are not
personal or psychological attributes. They do not share culture or language or a certain
race. What they share, rather, is the experience of occupying the bottom rung of the
social ladder in inegalitarian societies” (370).
The story of Kay
The creation of the dam in 1956 forced the villagers to relocate to the stony hills
above the valley (planned by the Haitian government and the US government)
--but the dam brought only suffering to the residents of Kay
They received neither the electricity nor the water
Acephie and Chouchou
“Are these stories of suffering emblematic of something other than two tragic
and premature deaths? Is so, how representative is either of these experiences?” (376)
What are the real consequences of poverty?
women escape the countryside in hopes of finding better lives, but they are
often forced into sex work or borderline slavery
Human rights groups estimate that more than 3,000 Haitians were murdered in
the year after the 1991 coup. Most of those killed were poor peasants or urban slum
dwellers.
“In Haiti, AIDS and political violence are two leading causes of death among young
adults” (377)
From Farmer’s perspective, these deaths are largely preventable, as they are
results of human agency—someone made the decision to flood the Artibonite Valley, just
as someone made the decision to fund the unfettered military forces.
Both victims’ fates had been sealed long before Acephie met the Captain or
Chouchou encountered the soldiers.
--This predetermined fate was created by structural violence.
“The term is apt because such suffering is ‘structured’ by historically given (and often
economically driven) processes and forces that conspire—whether through routine,
ritual, or, as is more commonly the case, the hard surfaces of life—to constrain agency”
(377)
But “structural violence all too often defeats those who would describe it” due to three
reasons.
1. the ‘exoticization’ of suffering attained through distance
2. the weight of suffering is unconveyable without seeing the anonymous
victims
3. the dynamics and distribution of suffering are poorly understood
Making Sense of Structural Violence
Geographically broad
Historically deep
With a simultaneous consideration of various social ‘axes’
--We must consider the constraints to agency in our analysis
5.8–“Testimony by FannyAnn Eddy at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights,”
Human Rights Watch
Not only do African leaders not like to discuss the GLBT community, but they often
refuse to even acknowledge its existence.
--GLBT individuals live in constant fear, even of police
--fear of being excluded from one’s family
--live in constant fear of violence from within their communities
“When African leaders use culture, tradition, religion and societal norms to deny our
existence they send a message that tolerates discrimination, violence and overall
indignity” (395)
“Silence creates vulnerability. You, members of the Commission on Human Rights, can
break the silence. You can acknowledge that we exist, throughout Africa and on every
continent, and that human rights violations based on sexual orientation or gender
identity are committed every day. You can help us combat those violations and achieve
our full rights and freedoms, in every society, including my beloved Sierra Leone” (395)
5.9– “Facts on Child Labour,” International Labour Organization (June 2004)
1 out of 6 children in the world labors under damaging conditions.
They work for their own and sometimes their families’ survival.
Nearly 3/4 work in human trafficking, armed conflict, slavery, sexual exploitation, and
hazardous work.
Key Statistics:
246 million children are child labourers
73 million are less than 10 years old
8.4 million children are trapped in slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution,
pornography and other illicit activities.
1.2 million of these children have been trafficked (trafficking is defined
as the transportation of persons for forced labor, sexual exploitation, or other
illicit activities)
Most children work in the informal sector, without legal or regulatory protection
5.10– “World Poverty and Hunger Fact Sheet,” UN Bulletin on the Eradication of
Poverty (2003)
1.2 billion people live on less than $1 per day. 2 billion people live on less than $2 per
day.
24,000 persons die each day due to hunger, 16,000 of whom are children under five
years of age
800 million are malnourished, 200 million of whom are children
Average life expectancy in areas with chronic hunger is 38 years. People in wealthy
nations live an average of 70 years.
Nearly 1/2 of the world’s hungry are in South Asia, and one third are in sub-Saharan
Africa.
Undernourished populations in India (233 million), South Asia, China (119 million), and
sub-Saharan Africa (196 million) represented roughly 9 percent of the world’s population
in 2000.
“Economic growth and more equitable access to resources and markets in the context of
sustainable development are essential for poverty reduction and food security
worldwide. These are challenges that require broad multilateral cooperation among
governments, civil society and the private sector” (399).
5.11– “Women and the Poor: The Challenge of Global Justice,” Nawal El Saadawi
“How can we speak about real developments in Africa, Asia, or South America without
knowing the real reasons for poverty and maldevelopment, and for the increasing gap
between the rich and the poor not only at the international and regional levels but also
within each country, at the national level?” (401)
What is ‘development’?
It seems to be defined as increasing poverty as well as a flow of money from
the South to the North.
“’Development is just another word for neocolonialism” (401)
What does this mean?
The result of ‘development’ is a reduction of human dignity, with human dignity defined
as the ability to be independent and self-reliant.
“The USA and powerful European countries in the North have become a de facto board
of management for the world economy, protecting their interests and imposing their will
on the South” (402)
90% of transnational corporations are based in the North, and they control 70% of world
trade.
What is a good government in the South?
“A good government is now defined as the government that accepts the
conditions of the World Bank and submits the nation’s economy to the interests of
transnational corporations and other international groups. A good government is a
government that accepts what is called ‘aid’ in order to achieve what is called
‘development’” (403)
When American aid to Egypt began in 1975, measuring the imports/exports with the US
through 1986, Egypt imported $30 million in goods and services from the US while
exporting only $5 million in goods and services.
Religion, the Poor, and Women
The increasing use of the phrase ‘the feminization of poverty’ refers to the huge increase
of women in poverty, increasing by about 50% from the 1970s to the 1980s.
Women work 2/3 of the total labor hours worked in the world, earn 1/10 of the world’s
income, and own 1/100 of world possessions (403-404).
“Religion is the ideology used by the rich to exploit the poor in the South”
The rise in religious fundamentalism is an international phenomenon. Additionally, “All
fundamentalist groups, whether Christian, Jewish, or Islamic, are antagonistic to
women’s liberation and women’s rights” (404)
An overall call to break away from the patriarchal, capitalist system that continues to
oppress women and create poverty…Convincing?