Brittany Blue

Dr. Howell
16 December, 2014
Fresh Perspectives, Broken Structures
Entering the ethnographic adventure Seth Holmes experienced
was easy in his brilliant book Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies. Through
connections, trust, and a lot of bravery, he had the opportunity to
enter the dangerous tradition of a group of farm workers through
crossing the border of Mexico and entering the United States to work in
the fields alongside them. Coming into reading this book, I have to
admit that I came in with quite a few ideas about migrant workers in
the US. These have come from media, my personal habitus, as well as
the dialogue happening across the US regarding this topic. Holmes
works to make people understand the Triqui people specifically, but
also to start a dialogue about the struggles that migrants face, and the
way that violence and oppression work between authorities and these
workers. In my reading of this book, the idea of violence comes across
in two clear aspects. The violence that the Triqui people face comes in
the form of both structural and symbolic violence that work together to
create the full system of violence that Holmes describes. These forms
come from physical causes, and in reading, we discover that it also
manifests in a life of oppression and racism. In this essay I will be
looking at the two aspects of violence listed in regards to the treatment
that the workers faced specifically at the clinic.
First, defining the two kinds of violence addressed in this book is
important in understanding the argument. Structural violence is the

Brittany Blue
Dr. Howell
16 December, 2014
violence committed by configurations of social inequalities that, in the
end, has injurious effects on bodies similar to the violence of stabbing
or shooting. (43) This idea has been referred to as social murder.
Symbolic violence on the other hand works closely with

habitus. We are raised with sets of ideas that dictate the way that we
see the world around us and those that inhabit it with us. Our habitus
fortunately and sometimes unfortunately helps us to make sense of the
world we live in, often causing oppression and violence towards others
without being aware of it. These two kinds of violence are emphasized
as forces working together, and oppressing the Triqui.
Following Bourdieus focus on power, this idea of symbolic
violence is directly relational between the dominating, and the
dominated. The powerful and the powerless play in their roles,
knowing themselves and the other party. The powerful have earned
what they have, and the powerless brought their troubles onto
themselves. These ideas are emulated in the example of the clinicians
reactions to the ailments of the men. Related to Bourdieus ideas of
subjectivity and objectivity, they rejected the pain causing stories of
the men, and credited their ailments to cultural problems. They are
trained to look objectively at the patients, discrediting what they say
and looking for the real reason. For example, Crescenios headaches
were caused by the constant yelling from his boss and stress, but since

Brittany Blue
Dr. Howell
16 December, 2014
he couldnt go to the doctor for fear of missing work, he took to
drinking to numb the pain. Because of this, the doctor credited his pain
to his drinking problem, culturally labeling him, and creating a
structure of power that isnt necessarily accurate. The cycle of this
violence is responsible for the stereotypes we experience in our own
habitus, causing a complete and oppressive wall in understanding the
realities that have been transformed through symbolic violence.

The violence begins from the day the men first feel the pain or
ailment. The men are discouraged from taking days off of work unless
their pain is severe. Since they are in threat of losing their occupation,
they remain quiet until their pain is so bad that they cannot stand it.
By this time, their case is so severe that the doctors at the clinic judge
the men and are disgusted by their condition. All three men were
treated with this same lack of respect and cultural stereotyping. This
treatment stems from structure. The workers are put at the bottom of a
totem pole of power, and since they are at the bottom, they can only
obtain the low-end jobs that cause the very ailments that they go to
the higher in the structure to have healed. These ideas follow a
Marxian pattern, addressing the authorities, oppression, and violence
that somehow keep people in authority and or working simultaneously.
This hierarchal relationship Marx addresses throughout his work is

Brittany Blue
Dr. Howell
16 December, 2014
being exploited, allowing those with more power to somehow create
the identity that they see fit towards the workers. The ailments that
face them and the dirt on their skin are not accredited to the
backbreaking work, but rather attributed to the quality of the men as
people.
In terms of the clinic, the combination of these two acts of
violence is easily spotted. Through structural violence and oppression
in the fields, the men are forced by their pains to go to the clinic. If
structural violence did not exist, these men wouldnt be forced into
low-end backbreaking jobs. In the same light, once the men are at the
clinic, the pains caused by structural violence are judged and caused
by

the dirtiness and character of the men as people, rather than the
constructs of power and violence actually causing them pain. This
conclusion of misguided attribution is the result of symbolic violence
reflecting on habitus. This cycle can be seen throughout the lives of the
Triqui in the clinics, in the fields, and on their journeys to and from
Mexico.
This powerful cycle is what Holmes wants to address when he
speaks about opening a conversation about the treatment of migrants.
The title makes a powerful statement. Through the work of these

Brittany Blue
Dr. Howell
16 December, 2014
migrants, we receive the gift of fresh fruit. This fresh fruit comes at a
cost unfortunately though through the broken bodies of our Triqui
brothers and sisters. Holmes challenges the perceptions that burden
the workers through addressing the misguidedness of structural and
symbolic violence. In the conclusion he calls for action. Those who
become aware of the habitus and powers at play really are the only
people suited to change the patterns of pain and violence that we see
in this text. The fact that these systems are normalized follows
Bourdieus idea of social reproduction. The hierarchies in whole are
caused by the seemingly small stories of Abelino and Crescencio. By
changing our habitus, we can begin to transform this system, treating
all levels of an inevitable hierarchy with respect and equality. In the
large scheme of things Holmes calls us to alternative farming methods
and partnership with organizations striving towards better conditions
for workers. In short though, we are simply being asked to consider
that the beautiful fruit on our tables in our safe comfortable homes
come from fields of pain and oppression at a great price.