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"Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies" is a book by anthropologist Seth M. Holmes that explores the experiences of Mexican migrant farm workers in California. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation, Holmes delves into the difficult and often exploitative conditions that these workers face on a daily basis.
One of the central themes of the book is the intersection of race, class, and citizenship. Migrant farm workers are often treated as second-class citizens, both by the larger society and by the farmers and corporations that employ them. They are often paid low wages and are subjected to hazardous working conditions, leading to a high rate of illness and injury.
Another theme of the book is the way that these workers are marginalized and excluded from mainstream society. Many of them live in isolated, overcrowded housing, and often do not have access to basic necessities like clean water and healthcare. They are also often subject to racial discrimination and abuse, both from their employers and from the larger society.
One of the key arguments of the book is that the exploitation of migrant farm workers is not simply a matter of individual bad actors, but is instead a systemic problem that is deeply rooted in the structures of society. Holmes argues that the exploitation of these workers is a result of the intersection of capitalism, racism, and citizenship, and that meaningful change will require addressing these larger structural issues.
Overall, "Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies" is a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of the lives and experiences of migrant farm workers. Through its detailed and sensitive portrayal of these workers' lives, the book offers a window into the often-invisible world of migrant labor, and serves as a call to action for those who seek to address the injustices faced by these marginalized and exploited workers.
Fresh Fruit Broken Summary
Samuelson argues that it turns out that being American is bad for you health, relative speaking. At military checkpoints on the way, the migrants lie about their destination and Holmes pretends to be a tourist. The conventional assumptions that Holmes discusses here are the core of U. Holmes structures his book in order to move gradually and systematically through his central argument about social hierarchies and violence in the U. Now there is drought Wang Lung and his family are going through an evil time. Crossing the border is incredibly dangerous, and migrants make far less than Americans for far more strenuous work. What I meant about this, is that lower and middle class individuals are exposed to more health threats than higher class.
When the Border Patrol actually catches them at the end of this scene, it again becomes clear that public policy is responsible for the pain that Holmes and his companions have to endure. However, much like farm executives implement exploitative working conditions because of economic pressures, doctors operate under the medical gaze because of certain practical pressures and limits on their profession. Holmes 90 manages to argue his empirical findings with reflexive social analysis with close regard to his position in looking into the experiences of the immigrants in the society run by violence. In turn, they blame patients for their own suffering. Triqui migrants cross the border for economic reasons, but they are forced to migrate to support their families—they have no other choice.
Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies Chapter 2: “We Are Field Workers”: Embodied Anthropology of Migration Summary & Analysis
In the leading chapter, the author manages to talk about the immigration of the Triqui from Northern Mexico to the principal examination site in Washington's Skagit Valley. The problem is structural, not individual: the migrants are going to the U. Bernardo has left his hometown, San Pedro, because of a long conflict between the government and an armed Indigenous militia. After a few more hours, they reach another creek bed, where they try to sleep but soon learn that their planned ride is cancelled. The people were pretty much slaves because that was all they could do to stay alive. After the Border Patrol arrested them, Holmes spent a month doing research in the borderlands.
Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies Chapter 5: “Doctors Don’t Know Anything”: The Clinical Gaze in Migrant Health Summary & Analysis
His more recent research focuses on the way that doctors-in-training learn to understand social inequality in clinical settings. The Triqui did not decide to migrate, but initially, they experienced the issue of violence for them to survive. These effects are generally worse for indigenous workers than mestizo ones. Of course, this is similar to how Triqui people frequently migrate to flee violence and make a living today. His Triqui friends meet him a week later and report that their second crossing was grueling. Socioeconomic status can heavily influence the optimal health of the heart in an individual; resulting in cardiac injury.
Holmes attempts to address the asymmetry of power in the relationships with the Triqui people, by working in the fields as they did, living in the camps, traveling with them, staying in the same places as them,and even crossing the border with them. This cycle of misunderstandings is similar to the way the structural violence of labor exploitation and the symbolic violence of racism work together on the Tanaka Brothers Farm and in U. Even with our medical advances, the United States ranks 29th because of lack of health care for some individuals but also the lifestyle Americans have. This is the only way to create lasting policy change and heal the suffering caused by U. But everyone also participates in the hierarchy and therefore perpetuates it to some extent—the executives employ everyone else in poor conditions, for instance, and the field workers frequently internalize and reinforce the hierarchy between Mexican and Indigenous workers. Migrants, lawyers, and relatives all emphasized the dangers of crossing, but Holmes decided that it was worth the risk.
However, in the recent labour struggles, the workers managed to use Holmes' work. Mexican crew - contract workers and are paid certain amount per unit of fruit harvested. Solidarity from Society to Globe. In addition to informing migrants about the specific dangers they face, the posters in the church reminds them that they can always turn back. Holmes explains what happens when Abelino seeks medical care.
He even felt sick because of dealing with depression knowing that all his days would be consumed with picking berries. A group of Mexican soldiers aggressively questions Holmes but lets him go free. The circling helicopter terrifies Holmes and his companions because it reminds them that heavily armed law enforcement officers view them as expendable and less than fully human. Throughout the book, Holmes also depicts many moments when this works the other way around: white Americans view Latinx migrant workers as culturally inferior because of the way they use their bodies. It lies by the gauge of a built-up farm. Lastly, not only did the Black Plague kill millions of people, they killed cattle and other animals which most communities relied on for their food source Consequences. Holmes grew up in eastern Washington.
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His liking for the Triqui farmworkers, the growers, comes out. Through the three stories, Holmes manages to cast out their dehumanization that emanates from a widespread free enterprise. He starts by describing social hierarchies in Chapter Two and Chapter Three , and then he shows how those hierarchies create structural violence in Chapter Four and Chapter Five. Eating healthy and exercising regularly is difficult for individuals in segregated areas because they lack recreational facilities and exercising outside is dangerous due to safety reasons. However, unlike anthropologists of the past, he does not assume that his class, education, and whiteness mean that he will automatically understand the people he studies better than they understand themselves.
Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies Chapter 4: “How the Poor Suffer”: Embodying the Violence Continuum Summary & Analysis
They also often justify the hierarchies that cause it through symbolic violence. It's the fact that they have to come here because back in their home their is no jobs or resources for a better future of their kids and for themselves. Specifically, the headaches came on when his supervisors insulted him, and he worried that he would take his anger out on his family. The primary reason for this is because these people cannot afford the time to use the portable toilets on while doing the job. Americans to deny responsibility for the violence their government inflicts on migrants. Cohen's Thesis Of 'How Immigrants Become' Other? In common with what migrant workers dealt with the author also experience problems of his own. He went on to complete his internship and residency at the University of Pennsylvania, and he has also held fellowships at Harvard University, Columbia University, and the University of Rochester.
Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies by Seth Holmes Plot Summary
In his conclusion, Holmes asks how migrant workers, scholars, and activists can resolve the problems that he has outlined in his book. Of course, such stereotypes are part of symbolic violence because they in turn justify the ethnic hierarchy. Holmes lays out the political stakes of his research: it speaks to central issues in global migration policy, the U. Disparities In Healthcare 113 Words 1 Pages With the ongoing changes on policies in healthcare, it is imperative to consider the legal and ethical issues in health disparities and access to care based on the socioeconomic status. Summary of Argument Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies is a book that gives the reader a vivid and bright look at the social injustices that are part and parcel of Agriculture.
