Overview
Medical systems function in specific cultural contexts. It is common to speak of the medicine of China, Japan, India, and other nation-states. Yet almost all formalized medical systems claim universal applicability and, thus, are ready to cross the cultural boundaries that contain them. There is a critical tension, in theory and practice, in the ways regional medical systems are conceptualized as ""nationalistic"" or inherently transnational. This volume is concerned with questions and problems created by the friction between nationalism and transnationalism at a time when globalization has greatly complicated the notion of cultural, political, and economic boundedness. Offering a range of perspectives, the contributors address questions such as: How do states concern themselves with the modernization of ""traditional"" medicine? How does the global hegemony of science enable the nationalist articulation of alternative medicine? How do global discourses of science and ""new age"" spirituality facilitate the transnationalization of ""Asian"" medicine? As more and more Asian medical practices cross boundaries into Western culture through the popularity of yoga and herbalism, and as Western medicine finds its way east, these systems of meaning become inextricably interrelated. These essays consider the larger implications of transmissions between cultures.
Full Product Details
Author: Joseph S. Alter
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 1.40cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.445kg
ISBN: 9780812238662
ISBN 10: 0812238664
Pages: 277
Publication Date: 27 May 2005
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Awaiting stock
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Reviews
An important collection of studies on a significant group of topics... It deserves to be widely read. -Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
""An important collection of studies on a significant group of topics. . . . It deserves to be widely read."" (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute)
""An important collection of studies on a significant group of topics. . . . It deserves to be widely read."" * <i>Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute</i> *
Author Information
Joseph S. Alter is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of Gandhi's Body: Sex, Diet, and the Politics of Nationalism and Knowing Dil Das: Stories of a Himalayan Hunter, both available from the University of Pennsylvania Press.
