State of Health

"Given the current polarized situation in Venezuela, medical anthropologist Amy Cooper provides important and compelling insights into how ordinary people experienced policy changes during Hugo Chávez's progressive government . . . In listening to people's stories, Cooper gained innovative insights into how government programs can provide a mechanism for social inclusion and empowerment, including how those institutions transform people's sense of themselves."

— CHOICE

“State of Health is a compelling ethnography on the interconnections among health care systems, pleasure, and radical politics during Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution. . . . Using a well-developed conceptualization of pleasure that encompasses biophysical health, sensual and social pleasure, and sociopolitical empowerment, State of Health offers critical insights into how poor and working-class Venezuelans experienced the Chávez years. . . . State of Health will appeal to a broad readership interested in Latin America, health care, radical politics, and the anthropology of affect and would be an excellent choice for undergraduate and graduate courses.”

— American Ethnologist

“State of Health is an accessible, eminently teachable book set in Venezuela at the height of the Bolivarian revolution. . . . In contrast to many Latin American medical ethnographies that document the distrust and suffering wrought by state-sponsored medicine, Cooper proposes that 'joy, excitement, and satisfaction were central to people’s experiences of Barrio Adentro.' The idea that medical care can be pleasurable is powerful in its simplicity.”

— Medical Anthropology Quarterly

“State of Health is an engaging and insightful ethnography of health care provision in Venezuela under Chávez. By centering the role of pleasure, it invites us to rethink our frameworks for analyzing medical care. The book is written in a clear and accessible style, and, as such, it can be read at a variety of levels. . . . This book should be required reading for anyone hoping to learn more about social medicine in Latin America.”