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Father
Ignacio Martín-Baró
  Ignacio
Martín-Baró, a social psychologist, was one of the six Jesuits murdered
in 1989 at the Central American University in San Salvador. At the time
of his death, he was the Vice-Rector of the University, and Director
of the University's Center for Public Opinion.
Martín-Baró
was a renowned scholar who had studied in Europe, the United States,
and Latin America; a prolific writer of five books and more than 100
articles; and a gifted speaker. Working and living among the Salvadoran
people, he dedicated his life to the cause of human rights, equality,
and social justice in El Salvador. Recognizing the devastating impact
of U.S. policy toward his adopted country, he visited and spoke before
many U.S. organizations, stressing our obligation to speak out against
our nation's collusion with the Salvadoran oligarchy and military. He
had a profound influence on a wide range of academics, activists, and
others in the United States.
Through
his advocacy, research, and rehabilitation programs, Martín-Baró worked
to heal the individual and collective scars of war and oppression. Shortly
before his death, he had made plans to open a polyclinic to serve children
and adult survivors of torture and war. In addition to his solidarity
with the people of El Salvador, Martín-Baró was also a central figure
in efforts to establish an international network of individuals and
organizations working on problems of human rights and mental health.
"War implies social polarization, the displacement
of groups toward opposite extremes. A critical split is produced in
the framework of coexistence, leading to a radical differentiation
between 'them' and 'us'…People, actions and things are no longer valued
in and of themselves…Thus the basis for daily interaction disappears.
"Without
doubt, of all the deleterious effects of the war on the mental health
of the Salvadoran people, the undermining of social relations is the
worst, for our social relations are the scaffolding we rely on to
construct ourselves historically both as individuals and as a human
community."
--
Ignacio Martín-Baró
 Remembering
Nacho
This is the text of a video presentation
created for the Fund's fall fundraising event in 1999. It is based
on the reminiscences of people from many walks of life whose lives were
profoundly affected by Father Ignacio. Some of the video scenes used
in the presentation were from the film, A Question of Conscience,
by Ilan Ziv, and were made available to us by the courtesy of First
Run Features, New York, (800) 488-6652.
Bibliography
Writings for a Liberation
Psychology, by Ignacio Martín-Baró, edited by Adrianne Aron and
Shawn Corne, Belknap/Harvard University Press, 1994. Available in
hardcover and paperback. The
most accessible of Martín-Baró's works for English readers, this collection
of impassioned essays calls for a psychology which speaks to and for
the community as well as the individual, and understands the essential
connection between mental health, human rights, and the struggle against
injustice. The book also includes a very comprehensive bibliography
Martín-Baró's publications, both in Spanish and in English.
Reveals
the workings of a mind that was probing and humane, wide-ranging in
interests and passionate in concerns, and dedicated with a rare combination
of intelligence and heroism to the challenge his work sets forth to
"construct a new person in a new society."
--
Noam Chomsky
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English
to Spanish translations
courtesy
of Melisa Flores
©
2007, Ignacio Martín-Baró Fund for Mental Health & Human Rights
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