Vita: Life in a Zone of Social Abandonment

Vita: Life in a Zone of Social Abandonment

Zones of social abandonment are emerging everywhere in Brazilâ€™s big citiesâ€”places like Vita, where the unwanted, the mentally ill, the sick, and the homeless are left to die. This haunting, unforgettable story centers on a young woman named Catarina, increasingly paralyzed and said to be mad, living out her time at Vita. Anthropologist JoÃ£o Biehl leads a detective-like journey to know Catarina; to unravel the cryptic, poetic words that are part of the "dictionary" she is compiling; and to trace the complex network of family, medicine, state, and economy in which her abandonment and pathology took form.

An instant classic, Vita has been widely acclaimed for its bold fieldwork, theoretical innovation, and literary force. Reflecting on how Catarinaâ€™s life story continues, this updated edition offers the reader a powerful new afterword and gripping new photographs following Biehl and Eskerodâ€™s return to Vita. Anthropology at its finest, Vita is essential reading for anyone who is grappling with how to understand the conditions of life, thought, and ethics in the contemporary world.
Country USA
Manufacturer University of California Press
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2013-05-01
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	University of California Press
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2013-05-01
Format	Kindle eBook