Description
Book SynopsisThrough an examination of the pharmaceutical industry and access to medicine in Central America, this book considers whether health is a human right or a commodity, and whether human rights advocacy is an antidote to the advance of neoliberal social policy or the very vehicle through which it now advances.
Trade Review"Godoy grounds her inquiry on the interface between transnational human rights advocates and the socio-political context, the health system, and local activists . . . This book is a dense, provocative, and detailed account of the failure of transnational human rights activists to persuade governments to rebuff the intellectual property protections inserted in the Central American Free Trade Agreement." -- Nuria Homedes *
Journal of Latin American Studies *
"Fair access to medicines is an important human rights issue that is challenged by the intellectual property rights requirements of international trade agreements. Godoy uses in-depth interviews in Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala to examine this issue in the context of the Central American Free Trade Agreement . . . [
Of Medicines and Markets] represents an interesting inquiry into how rights are framed, transmitted, and interpreted . . . Recommended." -- A. G. Reiter *
CHOICE *
"
Of Medicines and Markets is an engaging and persuasive study of the intersection of intellectual property and human rights in Central America that conveys cogent doubts about the capacity of transnational 'access to medicine' movements to serve as an effective counterweight to global trade regimes. Godoy admirably dissects the forces which have conspired to depoliticize both resistance to intellectual property expansion and the human rights rhetoric in which this is voiced. The book delivers insights that should transform advocacy and scholarship; it should be widely read and acclaimed." -- Rosemary J. Coombe * York University *
"[Godoy] provides an excellent analysis of free trade and human rights as parallel global paradigms....While targeting an audience of human rights and health advocates, this well-organized book is suitable for courses on political and legal anthropology, human rights, globalization, and social movements. Sophisticated theoretical discussion makes this book most appropriate for graduate level seminars or advanced undergraduate courses, and ideally readers should have some background knowledge about Latin America." -- Thomas W. Pearson *
PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review *
