I really enjoyed the reading for this week and loved that I was a discussion leader for this reading as it was very interesting and important. When I originally signed up to be a discussion leader, I had no idea what the reading was even about and was pleasantly surprised to have been assigned such a fascinating ethnography to discuss with the class. While the entire book was important, we chose to focus on the Introduction and Chapter 2 because the main themes tie into each other and compliment each other accordingly. I loved focusing on the concept of language and the power that words have. Much of the structural violence that the Hill Country Tamils (and especially the women) have faced is due to words and phrases that have negative and belittling connotations. When the main vocabulary used and recognized in a certain area perpetuates ongoing colonialism and the oppression of marginalized groups, it is a form of structural violence that continually represses these people and their ability to remove themselves from adverse situations. For example, many of the younger generations of Tamils have parents that work on tea plantations but do not want to work on these plantations themselves. They dream of being teachers, doctors, scientists, government officials, and more. These people do not want to be tied down to labels that hold so much negative meaning because of their roots in colonialism and slavery. This idea also applies to a much broader context with the marginalized groups of the United States and the rest of the world. Language is extremely powerful and connects to the landscape. When negative words, phrases, and labels are used to identify an entire group of people this essentially traps them into a label or stigma that they do not actually fall into. I believe this concept is very important and would like to discuss more in class. One question I am left with is: in what other ways do you see the concept of language (words, phrases, labels, etc.) contribute to structural violence in the world?