Life in Debt: Times of Care and Violence in Neoliberal Chile

by Clara Han

Chile is widely known as the first experiment in neoliberalism in Latin America, carried out and made possible through state violence. Since the beginning of the transition in 1990, the state has pursued a national project of reconciliation construed as debts owed to the population. The state owed a "social debt" to the poor accrued through inequalities generated by economic liberalization, while society owed a "moral debt" to the victims of human rights violations. Life in Debt invites us into lives and world of a poor urban neighborhood in Santiago. Tracing relations and lives between 1999 and 2010, Clara Han explores how the moral and political subjects imagined and asserted by poverty and mental health policies and reparations for human rights violations are refracted through relational modes and their boundaries. Attending to intimate scenes and neighborhood life, Han reveals the force of relations in the making of selves in a world in which unstable work patterns, illness, and pervasive economic indebtedness are aspects of everyday life. Lucidly written, Life in Debt provides a unique meditation on both the past inhabiting actual life conditions but also on the difficulties of obligation and achievements of responsiveness.

Genres: Anthropology, Ethnography

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Andrew Tang · Rating 5 out of 5]

powerful. Written skillfully with great richness and depth. A style and theoretical background (an eclectic mix of Das, Didier Fassin and others - pastoral altruism mixed with debt and religiosity is an amazing way to explain indifference towards human suffering) that grows on you as you're reading it. Excellent history lesson and the current conditions of Chile and poverty in the world.

[Joana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente etnografia que fornece um olhar sobre o Chile contemporâneo distinto do discurso oficial, o qual redutoramente identifica este país como um "milagre económico". A antropóloga imerge na vida dos seus interlocutores elaborando sobre os seus quotidianos, focando-se em particular como o passado ditatorial influencia uma existência de dívidas e precariedade laboral.

[Louisa]

actually not as good as i remember it to be... maybe it's because i just came from reading ruth behar so the handling of vulnerability here seems rather clumsy?? wish she gave slightly more of an account of herself, but also thinking through the question of how much of the ethnographer i want to see in accounts, and /why/ i think that's to a certain extent necessary.

[harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Han does great job connecting her wider themes with specific exmaples of the people within La Pincoya.

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es una investigación tan necesaria para pensar la sociedad actual y la salud mental.

Este libro nos demuestra cómo para superar la depresión no es solo necesaria la terapia, sino que también existen aspectos estructurales y sociales que mantienen a los sujetos en contextos de precariedad material y emocional.

Vivir siempre endeudado es algo tan común en nuestra sociedad (chilena), como se menciona en el libro "es una vida prestada" el crédito es solo para los pobres.

Además, de lo anterior, Clara Han nos muestra la importancia de las redes y con ello los cuidados para poder sobrellevar esta "vida prestada" cuando las instituciones y Estado están ausentes.

Menos autocuidado y más cuidado colectivo❤️‍🩹

Quien quiera reflexionar sobre la sociedad actual y los indices de depresión se lo recomiendo totalmente.