This thesis will explore the gut microbiome as a sociopolitical inscriptor of violence, a biological marker of vulnerability, and a site of collective resistance within Triqui migrant farmworkers from Oaxaca, Mexico. Extending on Seth Holmes’ ethnography titled Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies, critical biomedical and sociocultural anthropology, and synthesizing the different cyclical elements of their microbial implications, this paper argues for future research and knowledge production to contend with the microbiome as a biological mirror of systemic violence, dispossession, exploitation, and racialization. This research helps reveal the different structural drivers, such as institutionally coerced migration, racialized labor hierarchies, malnutrition, overt state violence, and chronic stress, and their involvement with the disease outcomes and physiological futures of marginalized communities. Each chapter will position the microbiome as a living archive of state terror, physical and psychological displacement, and moral blame within clinical settings. The stories of Abelino, Bernardo, and Crescencio will be centered around this microbial interaction and how trauma, injustice, and survival become lodged in gut microbial communities and interactions. Their stories will also help address the need for reformed ethics procedures and a relational and transnational care framework that addresses inequitable healthcare policy and microbial therapeutics. This thesis ultimately addresses the tension present between ethical microbial study, scientific knowledge production, and clinical practice, from key interlocutors whose suffering is biologically embedded in their system. Their microbiomes are archives of what institutions seek to erase. Within these archives is a call for justice.

The thesis project aims to explore how community doulas utilize non-biomedical approaches in advocating for their clients in and outside of medical spaces. By doing fieldwork with the Children’s Home Society in Trenton, NJ, I was able to do participant observation with doulas, clinicians, and social service providers. I also interviewed them, in addition to a postpartum mother, to gain insight into their respective careers and what they believe Black women desire from the perinatal experience. The overarching question for the paper is: using intersections of race, gender, and relationality, how does the nonmedical approach of doulas demonstrate patient advocacy for women from traditionally underserved populations? Furthermore, how do differences and similarities in care between doulas and clinical providers influence the Black pregnant patient's ability to fulfill their physical, mental, and cultural needs? Through the findings, it was determined that cultivating and strengthening relationships between those involved in the maternal health field is essential to begin envisioning reproductive care that is more equitable and suits the needs of women of color.