Cry of the Poor

Alexandre A. Martins is assistant professor in a joint position between the Department of Theology and the College of Nursing at Marquette University.

• AcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroduction: A Liberating Approach to Health Care…………………Prolegomenon of a Project: Hermeneutical and Methodological Lines……………….Part I Human Contingency: Anthropology of Suffering………………………………….1 The Unfortunate Being in Simone Weil………2 Rootedness, Suffering, And Compassion: Malheur And Incarnation……….3 The Liberation Approach to Suffering: Simone Weil and Liberation Theology…………4 The Preferential Option for the Poor as an Existential Commitment………….5 Emptying and the Preferential Option for the Poor: Mysticism and Social Implications…Conclusion Part I…………Part II Suffering and Inequalities in Health……………….6 Liberation Ethics: Inclusion from Below…………..7 The Suffering of the Poor and Their Vulnerability: Voices from Below……….8 Structural Violence Beyond Numbers: Learning from the Hermeneutical Lens of The Poor….9 Structural Violence and Social Determinants of Health: The Vulnerability of the Poor…Conclusion Part II……….Part III Anthropology of Suffering and Liberation Ethics: Bases for Health Care as a Human Right…..10 Global Health and Human Rights Framework from Below: Theological and Anthropological Perspectives…..11 Popular Education and Public Health: A Community-Based Approach for Health Care Advocacy……..Conclusion Part III…….Suffering – Health – Hope……Bibliography…..About the Author…..

Martins (Marquette Univ.) here derives an anthropology of suffering from Simone Weil’s syncretism of Plato and the suffering of Christ, combined with Latin American liberation theology, offering a philosophical/ethical framework to address social justice and health inequities. Paulo Freire’s pedagogical perspective, the irruption of the poor, drives an emphasis on the unique voice of the poor "from below" that is necessary to scholars and health care professionals as they engage the poor in a dialectical process of liberating education, essential to the social transformation of health care. The Catholic preferential option for the poor, with the non-poor as companions in their struggles, stresses listening to the poor, who are victims of social violence, here considered as experts in existential knowledge. Although primarily philosophical and theological in orientation, Martins's work is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on anthropology, bioethics, and public health disciplines. His text integrates biblical text, Roman Catholic church documents, the "health as a human right versus health as commodity" debate, and the role of grassroots Catholic church organizations as agents of health care and sociopolitical transformation. In his final chapter Martins addresses the application of this multifaceted framework to practical problems of health care delivery, challenging his readers to implementation. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.