Society & Culture / Social Issues / Poverty & Inequality

Is Modern Medicine a Weapon Against the Poor? (Critical Medical Anthropology in Latin America)

Critical Medical Anthropology: Perspectives in and from Latin America

Jennie Gamlin, Sahra Gibbon, Paola M. Sesia, Lina Berrio

This video unpacks the groundbreaking research from the book *Critical Medical Anthropology: Perspectives in and from Latin America*, edited by Jennie Gamlin, Sahra Gibbon, Paola M. Sesia, and Lina Berrio. We shatter the illusion of objective healthcare, revealing how hospitals, clinics, and even pharmaceuticals often perpetuate the very inequalities they claim to fight. From indigenous women being locked out of delivery rooms in Mexico, to the 'thrifty gene' myth used by soda giants to blame victims for diabetes, we explore how structural violence, racism, and corporate profit literally write themselves onto our bodies. Discover why a 40% abuse rate in public maternity wards is not a bug, but a feature of biopower—and how self-care in slums and on borders becomes a radical act of survival. This is a journey into the hidden politics of your own health.