Latin American Studies ETDs
Publication Date
7-1-2015
Abstract
Sugarcane workers in northwestern Nicaragua are suffering from chronic kidney disease of non-traditional causes (CKDnt) at extremely high rates. In the small town of Chichigalpa alone, CKDnt causes 46% of male deaths (Kurzrok et al. 2013). This paper examines the CKD epidemic as a fundamentally structural problem, not merely a biological abnormality, because it is closely linked to labor exploitation, poverty, human rights violations, and historical context. Grounded in literature from medical anthropology and medical sociology and based on two months of ethnographic field research in northwestern Nicaragua, it analyzes how knowledge production interacts with scientific uncertainty about CKDs specific biomedical causes. It posits that scientific knowledge does not close controversy, but rather proliferates uncertainties, thereby forestalling the potential for rights claims. A strictly scientific understanding of CKD diffuses responsibility for addressing its structural causes, distracts from structural violence, and diverts attention away from the urgency of CKD deaths.
Project Sponsors
UNM Latin American and Iberian Institute, UNM Office of Graduate Studies
Language
English
Keywords
kidney disease, sugarcane, structural violence, labor, Nicaragua, Central America, medical anthropology, knowledge
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Latin American Studies
Level of Degree
Masters
Department Name
Latin American Studies
First Committee Member (Chair)
Whooley, Owen
Second Committee Member
Field, Les
Recommended Citation
Leister, Sarah. ""We Know Where We Stand": Contesting and Constructing Knowledge in Nicaragua's Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemic." (2015). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ltam_etds/9
Comments
Submitted by Sarah Leister (leisters@unm.edu) on 2015-07-14T22:57:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Leister Thesis Final.pdf: 736455 bytes, checksum: b7920442d6555d88e6efa5c92d428492 (MD5), Approved for entry into archive by Doug Weintraub (dwein@unm.edu) on 2015-09-01T16:06:48Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Leister Thesis Final.pdf: 736455 bytes, checksum: b7920442d6555d88e6efa5c92d428492 (MD5), Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-01T16:06:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Leister Thesis Final.pdf: 736455 bytes, checksum: b7920442d6555d88e6efa5c92d428492 (MD5)