"All day, I leaned forward to see the strawberries below the leaves, and my neck and back began to hurt by late morning. For two or three days after picking, I took ibuprofen and sometimes used the hot tub in a local private gym to ease the aches, all too aware of the inequality of having access to such amenities."
This quote is from Holmes's own experiences working alongside migrant laborers in the fields. It illustrates the physical toll of berry picking and underlines the embodied violence that migrant workers endure daily. The contrast between Holmes's ability to access pain relief and amenities and the migrant workers' lack of such access highlights social inequality. The theme of the "violence continuum" refers to the range of physical, emotional, and social harms experienced by migrants, which are normalized and invisible in everyday life. This narrative personalizes the abstract concept of structural violence, making it tangible and immediate.
"In our headlong efforts to bring into focus finer and more discriminating views of the lesions lying beneath disease, we will have missed the opportunity to envision the person or the patient that lies beyond the disease."
This quote captures the theme of the clinical gaze—a concept that Holmes critically examines throughout his work. This phrase, attributed to Tom Boyce, discusses the reductionist view in clinical practice that focuses solely on the biological aspects of disease overlooking the patient's holistic experience. Holmes uses this concept to highlight how migrant workers' suffering is decontextualized in medical settings. It reduces their complex social and economic realities to mere medical cases. This dehumanization is a significant barrier to understanding and effectively addressing the true nature of their suffering, which is intertwined with their labor conditions and socio-economic status.
"Physicians in migrant health—as in other biomedical spaces—value their own observations and biotechnical testing of the patient’s body over the words of the patient."
This quote delves into the interactions between migrant patients and healthcare providers. Holmes criticizes the prioritization of biotechnical assessments over the patients' narratives, which leads to the naturalization of their suffering. By ignoring the socio-economic contexts of patients' lives, healthcare providers inadvertently perpetuate a system that fails to address the root causes of their suffering. This phrase illustrates how systemic inequalities are maintained and how the healthcare system contributes to the marginalization of migrant workers. The system does not fully acknowledge their lived experiences and the socio-economic factors impacting their health.
