Fresh fruit, broken bodies

In the original English, it has received multiple awards and is now finally available in German: Seth M. Holmes offers an in-depth examination of the everyday lives and suffering of Mexican migrants working as farm laborers in modern U.S. agriculture. The anthropologist and physician demonstrates how health and healthcare are affected by the darker sides of consumer society, by resentments against immigrants, and by racism. Holmes' material is shocking and impressive: he illegally crossed the desert into Arizona with his companions and was detained with them until they were deported. He lived with indigenous families in the mountains of Oaxaca and in farm labor camps in the U.S., grew corn and strawberries, and accompanied sick workers to hospitals. This embodied anthropology deepens our theoretical understanding of how quickly social inequalities in society - and especially in healthcare - are perceived as normal and natural.