Valuing Life in the Emergency Room: Inequalities and Social Interactions in a Chilean Public Hospital

The central aim of this presentation is to explore how life valuations emerge from the social interactions that occur in the emergency waiting room of Chile’s Public Emergency Assistance Hospital (formerly known as “Posta Central”). This research posits that inequality is not merely an abstract construct tied to social, cultural, and political conditions; rather, it is a category actively produced, reproduced, and legitimized in everyday interactions (Auyero, 2016; Das, 2015; Han, 2012).

The setting for this ethnographic investigation is the waiting room of the former “Posta Central,” Chile’s oldest and most iconic emergency service, located in central Santiago. This location provides a unique opportunity to examine how social inequalities—manifesting through gender violence, homophobia, racism, xenophobia, and other forms of discrimination—are made visible in real-time. The population served here is diverse, often reflecting the multiple axes of marginalization present in contemporary Chilean society.

This presentation shares preliminary findings on how life valuations emerge from the interactions within this space. First, it will describe the everyday interactions among key participants: security and admissions staff, patients and their families, and medical personnel. The research highlights that the functioning of the emergency room relies on the active engagement of all these actors. Second, it will analyze how these interactions are shaped by social categories such as gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and migration. These categories not only intersect but are actively mobilized in the dynamics of healthcare access and delivery. Lastly, this presentation illuminates the ways in which power structures and social hierarchies influence health outcomes, offering a nuanced understanding of the inequalities embedded in medical care.