Katz and Farmer

Even in the wake of catastrophe, when human beings are expected to display their most empathetic attitudes, social and monetary hierarchies will always take precedence over those who have suffered the most extensive loss. This is the stark reality presented in Katz’s and Farmer’s texts. Katz’s vivid description of the devastation wrought by the earthquake evokes a palpable sense of dread and hopelessness, exacerbated by the prior knowledge that this disaster will be commodified in the same way as so many others have been. In many cases, we can predict how the situation will turn out before it even begins. This point of view brought to mind the work of Lori Allen which we studied last week, in terms of her analysis of the truth behind NGOs and other aid organizations. As Katz points out in the very beginning of the text, specifically on page 3, if nothing else he intends for his audience to ask themselves, in whose hands did the donations actually end up?

Katz offers up the following observation on page 95: “The major aid groups had spent very little of the emergency money they had raised, but people overseas were still pumping in more at the behest of celebrities and CNN.” His description of celebrity endorsement and the quotes he includes by George Clooney reek of paternalistic attitudes. The narrative of the white savior makes an appearance here, implying that the only way for Americans to quell their guilt is to donate to these organizations (which non-coincidentally happen to also raise the power and status of those who already have plenty of it). Additionally, I was floored by the pre-earthquake “nuclear bomb rebuilding joke” Katz describes at the start of chapter six regarding the attitudes of foreigners who had spent some time residing in Haiti. How sincere can the motivations of these Western individuals actually be in the wake of a crisis? Overall, Katz reveals throughout the text that the misguided intentions of those who came to “save Haiti” ultimately prevail over any false pretense of helpfulness.

Farmer’s stories featuring Acephie and Chouchou are specific examples of broader issues resulting from what Farmer describes as “emblematic suffering”. He analyzes that “the ‘exoticization’ of suffering as lurid as that endured by Acephie and Chouchou distances it. The suffering of individuals whose lives and struggles recall our own tends to move us” (377). This phenomenon is specifically relevant not only to Katz’s analysis of the disaster in Haiti, but in how Western society attempts to distance itself from the idea of structural violence on a daily basis. When considering the intersectionality of violence, Farmer calls for “more honest discussions of who is likely to suffer and in what ways.” (383)