Govermentality: Through the Eyes of Sidney Mintz's Sweetness and Power and Paul Farmer's Haiti After the Earthquake

Comparative Textual Essay

Medical Anthropology 115

As a project, theory and economic paradigm, the term 'development' has become a buzzword of sorts, taking on teleological connotations supporting ideas of progress. A struggling power dynamic between the dominating over the dominated, the body with the most resources has come to control the discourse surrounding development and exercises it onto those that have historically been seen as inferior. Both Sydney Mintz and Paul Farmer analyze these imbalances within the different axis of power, whilst incorporating the concepts of power and the Foucaultian notion of governmentality into their arguments. In Sweetness and Power, Mintz takes a more historical approach, chronicling the ascent of sugar and sucrose's role in engendering protocapitalistic endeavors through the means of production, consumption and power. In Haiti After the Earthquake, Farmer addresses the nature of development and governmentality in his critique of the political, economic and social instability the 'republic of NGOs' have generated within Haiti.

The way in which development is framed in Farmer's work can be looked at through Li's perception of the telos as "not one dogmatic goal but a whole series of specific finalities." (Li, 9) While Haiti hopes to improve substantially, there is not one specific telos in mind, but a general direction in which Haiti must take certain steps to follow in order to ascend. (Nevertheless, there is the assumption underlying development discourse that presumes the telos will result in Haiti becoming more Westernized, ultimately becoming part of the "American hemisphere.') What steps are we rationalizing to allow for progress and development? Holding Rwanda as a standard for achievement, Farmer illustrates the benefits that can result from putting money directly into the hands of the government, as opposed to allowing the public sphere to control the majority of the monetary funds. In further critiquing NGOs, Farmer claims that the relevant knowledge needed to aid Haiti needs to be historically deep and geographically broad. With this in mind, Farmer suggests that education needs to be made accessible to the masses, hospitals need to be extended to the rural poor, and agricultural forms need to be in place in order to decrease social class disparities and allow Haitians more autonomy. Farmer illustrates how there are social, not just environmental roots to disaster and how by focusing on giving the central government the power, by implementing health and education reforms, and investing in total infrastructure reconstruction, Haiti can grow.

Mintz shows how the transformation of sugar from a luxury into a modern day necessity can be seen as a consequence and (whether intentional or not), a teleological goal capitalism and of the sugar enterprise. In a Marxian sense, sugar disassociated laborers in the New World from their final product. Slaves became 'false commodities,' and were forced to work, develop the land, in order to refine sugar and situate Europe as the imperial center. From these efforts, heavily refined white sugar became associated with connotations of purity and perfection (a telos in its own sense) and white refined sugar came to be seen as an ideal. Easily manipulated into a variety of substances and having caloric value, sugar provides a respite from reality, curbs hunger, enhances stimulants like alcohol, tea and coffee and increases the overall attractiveness of food. This being said, sucrose has infiltrated our daily lives, becoming indivisible from our diet, relating back to the idea that culture is invisible to its practitioners. Sugar has come to permeate all facets of our life, its rise seen as inevitable and our affinity for sweetness inherent. Mintz argues that the ever rising consumption of sugar was an artifact of intraclass struggles for profit and these struggles eventuated in a world market transformation in which the masses were now morally and financially permitted access to sucrose. (Mintz, 186) I would also argue that there has been a misrepresentation of sorts. Sweetness has become an essential part of the global market, and in becoming accessible to all, has transformed the social body. In perceiving sucrose as a telos in terms of sweetness and necessity, its toxicity in large quantities has created a shift in the biomedical sphere as biopolitics and medical professionals have reoriented their stance. Sucrose it can be argued to counter the trajectory of biomedical efforts, as it has become a hindrance and adversely affected progress related to personal health and well being.

Both Mintz and Farmer address issues of development and progress, incorporating Foucault's notion of governmentality and power. If governmentality is the 'art of governing,' then it can be said that the 'republic of NGOs' have come to direct and surveillance the economic, social and political bodies in Haiti. Herein lies Farmer's critique - the heavy reliance on NGOs has inhibited Haiti from achieving stability and progressing. In light of the recent natural disasters, the distribution of relief funds illustrates the power dynamics between the Haitian government, Haitian peoples and the outside world. With less than 1% of all relief aid conferred to Haiti's government, the power NGOs have has exceeded that of the private sector. Governmentality can be understood through Foucault's notions of salvation and progress, which NGO's seemingly embody. While these factors seem to motivate NGOs, power and self-discipline in the Haitian government are ill perceived as the private sector has been made to seem ill equipped. Regardless of controversy, corruption as a country rife with turmoil and instability, Farmer emphasizes that more money needs to end up in the private sector. With more money in the hands of Haitian government officials, long term organizations and infrastructure can be implemented and constructed which will prove more beneficial than efforts made by the short-lived NGOs.

The ascent of sugar in Mintz's text illustrates governmentality's ability to normalize. The heightened consumption of sucrose altered the lives of working people, naturalizing new schedules of work, new sorts of labor and new conditions of daily life. (Mintz, 181) As sucrose has come to be an inevitable component of society in terms of industry and diet, forms of governmentality, like the Body Mass Index, have come into being. The BMI is a form of self-discipline put in place in part to control impulses and habits by encouraging people to monitoring their weight within what is perceived to be normal versus abnormal. The success of sugar originated in large part from power in terms of slavery, the relationship