Breathing uneasy: Citizenship and subjectivity in pediatric asthma management

This dissertation answers the question: Given the availability of inexpensive and effective medications and services that make asthma a controllable disease, why do so many children continue to suffer from asthma? This is a timely and compelling question given that asthma is the second leading chronic disease among children, and costs the U.S. upwards of ;Although the barriers to asthma management may seem daunting, this dissertation argues that suffering from asthma can be mitigated by practitioners who communicate empathy informed by an appreciation of the impact of poverty, immigration, and bureaucracies of power; it can be reduced by policymakers who recognize patterns of discrimination and the impact of denying health care to certain population groups; and it can inform health care consumers and advocates that the context of individual experience often limits the conditions of possibility for achieving better control of asthma symptoms.