Fields of power in community health: a case study
Abstract
During a conference in the United States presenting the work of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in rural Ecuador, one of the attendees raises his hand and comments: "I am sure that the doctors in the public sector and the community of Ecuador are very happy to have an NGO in their community, to help them with medical care in the rural sector and also in the entire community". This demonstrates the naivety with which doctors and Western society understand the issue of power. This work uses Bourdieu's theory of place and concepts of fields and forms of capital to trace various networks of relationships through which power circulates in humanized spaces.
Part of a case study of an NGO and its health project, the multiple challenges and obstacles encountered at the local level, where actors and field actions, key elements of power, have boycotted said project
As, place-based factors were often obscured or misunderstood, as the NGO attempted to engage the community through the scientific and organizational principles of the Western view. Furthermore, like local perspectives and interests, they were often misunderstood or made invisible to the leadership of that NGO.
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