Mountains Beyond Mountains By Tracy Kidder: Summary

In my section for GEOG 280 we discussed how structural violence is when a person or a group gets punished whether it be through direct or indirect access to resources. Structural violence can take various forms, such as people can be subject to exploitation, marginalization, helplessness and cultural imperialism, which denies citizens assistance. In “Mountains Beyond Mountains,” by Tracy Kidder, structural violence was evident in Haiti where only the elite had enough money to obtain healthcare. The rest of the population had to suffer because the government was not doing anything to aid them. The citizens of Haiti were neglected, the roads were in terrible condition, the medicines were too expensive and family death was an everyday occurrence.
In the book, Dr. Farmer visited a village where he saw several people turned away from medical care because they did not have the funds to pay beforehand. In one particular case Dr. Farmer ran around trying to collect enough money to financially help a woman whose sister needed medical attention. In Haiti, the citizens were suffering of helplessness and would not be helped unless they had money – which most of the population does not have. Throughout the book, we are able to identify several cases in which marginalization and helplessness were prevalent.
Jonathan D. Mayer. He presented the example of political interest in ecological studies. In Trinidad the field workers stayed in the fields late, being exploited for the countries economic gain. During the later hours when the workers were out working, the mosquitos carrying malaria would also come out to feed. The workers were left to be exposed to harsh conditions and a high probability of contracting malaria. By trying to improve the country’s economy and industry, the working class was left exposed to a number of