Fw: [euroseas] EUROSEAS Call for papers - National identity, local medicines, and the appropriation of the therapeutic field

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

 

This is to inform you about a panel in medical anthropology I am organising for the next international conference of EUROSEAS (European Association of South East Asian Studies) in Naples in September 2007. The title of the panel is "National identity, local medicines, and the appropriation of the therapeutic field." For more details read below.

 

Please, circulate this information among those who may be interested in participating.

 

My best regards,

Claudia Merli

 

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7th EUROSEAS ConferenceUniversity of Naples, 12-15 September 2007CALL FOR PAPERSPANEL: National identity, local medicines, and the appropriation of the therapeutic fieldConvenor: Claudia Merli, Uppsala University (claudia.merli (AT) antro (DOT) uu.se)Medical practice and health care are arenas of confrontation between local cultural processes and national projects. The notion of "biopower" is usually applied to the promotion of modern medical technologies and their appropriation of the therapeutic quest as expression of globalization at the expense of local systems of knowledge. As manifestation of specific religious or ethnic identities, local systems of therapeutic knowledge do however not only find themselves in opposition to modern medical technologies but also to privileged traditions, implying a two-front struggle. The two-front struggle means defending a contested past against claims from privileged traditions as well as securing space in the future claimed by modern technology.This is especially evident in countries where modernization and creation of a national identity requires the assimilation of diverse ethnic and religious groups. The dominant group can elevate a particular medical tradition perceived as ideal heritage and communicating its peculiar religious-ethnic identity to 'national traditional medicine.' Such privileged knowledge can consist of both pharmacopeias and practices, massage techniques and instrumental interventions. The general aim of the panel is to discuss the tensions emerging from the encounters between modern medical technology and competing traditional medicines, and the selection of one of the latter as "national heritage." We want to investigate also how this applies to large public health interventions occasioned by endemic health problems in Southeast Asia during historical periods both significant and critical for the construction/challenge of a national identity.Contributions are welcome from scholars of anthropology, sociology, public health and medicine. Thematic clusters are possible. Some key terms for thematic contributions: national crises and public health, epidemics, leper, malaria, mental health, local medical treatments, minorities, medical technologies, pharmaceuticals and materia medica.Interested participants are invited to send abstracts (about 200 words) of theirpapers to the panel convenor as soon as possible and at the very latest by 1 March 2007.Claudia MerliPhD CandidateUppsala UniversityDepartment of Cultural AnthropologyBox 631751 26 Uppsala SWEDENE-mail:claudia.merli (AT) antro (DOT) uu.seTel. +46 (0)18 4717280http://www.antro.uu.se