Multiple Medical Realities: Patients And Healers In Biomedical, Alternative And Traditional Medicine (Easa)

Cover......Page 1
Details......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
List of Tables......Page 7
List of Figures......Page 8
Preface......Page 9
List of Contributors......Page 12
1 Introduction Body and Self in Medical Pluralism......Page 14
Pluralism in medical structure......Page 15
Body and self in medicine......Page 17
Elective affinity in bodies and structure......Page 20
Body, self and sociality......Page 22
Body, self and the experience of healing......Page 25
Complex bodies and flexible selves......Page 27
References......Page 28
Part I Body, Self and Sociality......Page 31
2 Demographic Background and Health Status of Users of Alternative Medicine - A Hungarian Example......Page 32
Use of alternative medicine (AM) in Europe and the United States......Page 33
Alternative medicine in Hungary......Page 34
Integrative future prospects......Page 37
References......Page 40
3 Taltos Healers, Neoshamans and Multiple Medical Realities in Postsocialist Hungary......Page 46
The medical system in plural transition......Page 47
Cultural phenomenology of the body: the last station before die Transcendent......Page 50
The táltos tradition and the postmodern Táltos......Page 51
Led by the rod, healing by energy......Page 52
Invisible but touchable body as inverse avatar......Page 54
The non-ordinary reality of Taltos healing......Page 55
'Outbodiment' or visiting the spirits' world......Page 58
The body opens up the past......Page 60
Conclusions......Page 61
Notes......Page 62
References......Page 63
4 'The Double Face of Subjectivity' - A Case Study in a Psychiatric Hospital (Ghana)......Page 65
Subjunctive aspects in acts of appropriation......Page 66
Medical and religious pluralism......Page 67
Relations of affinity in biomedical treatment and Christian healing......Page 69
Elizabeth*: about good and about evil spirits......Page 72
Conclusion......Page 76
Notes......Page 78
References......Page 79
5 German Medical Doctors' Motives for Practising Homeopathy, Acupuncture or Ayurveda......Page 83
Methods......Page 85
Unease with biomedicine -limited efficacy......Page 86
Positive experience with homoeopathy......Page 87
Spirituality......Page 88
Indophilia......Page 89
Unease with biomedicine - technicalisation versus holism......Page 90
Positive experience......Page 91
Economic considerations......Page 92
Discussion......Page 94
References......Page 97
6 Pluralisms of Provision, Use and Ideology - Homoeopathy in South London......Page 100
Integration: a new medical pluralism......Page 101
Current use of homoeopathy in the United Kingdom......Page 102
Research method......Page 103
Medical pluralism in use and provision of homoeopathy in South London......Page 104
Committed users: actively seeking alternatives......Page 105
Ruth: a committed homoeopathy user......Page 106
Ruth's changed use of the orthodox medical system......Page 107
Seeking alternative homoeopathy philosophy from a homoeopathic GP......Page 108
Pragmatic homoeopathy users: happening upon alternatives by chance......Page 109
Pluralism of provision......Page 111
Two different kinds of pluralism?......Page 112
References......Page 114
7 Re-examining the Medicalisation Process......Page 116
The Case of Kimon and Adda......Page 119
Looking at the medicalisation process through a different prism......Page 124
References......Page 126
Part II Body, Self and the Experience of Healing......Page 129
8 Healing and the Mind-body Complex - Childbirth and Medical Pluralism in South Asia......Page 130
Childbirth in South Asia......Page 133
Mind-body states in childbirth......Page 135
Note......Page 141
References......Page 142
9 Self, Soul and Intravenous Infusion - Medical Pluralism and the Concept of samay among the Naporuna in Ecuador*......Page 145
Fieldwork conditions and methodological remarks......Page 146
Maria......Page 149
Samay......Page 150
Conclusions......Page 153
References......Page 155
10 Experiences of Illness and Self - Tamil Refugees in Norway Seeking Medical Advice......Page 157
Context of fieldwork......Page 159
Pillai and Padimini: 'I only know that sometimes a sickness makes you too hot or too cold. What can i do?'......Page 161
Birthday party: 'We must be together and avoid difficulties'......Page 162
Healing in religious and community experiences......Page 164
Living between distinct worlds: healing and self......Page 166
Summing up......Page 168
Notes......Page 169
References......Page 170
11 The War of the Spiders - Constructing Mental Illnesses in the Multicultural Communities of the Highlands of Chiapas......Page 172
My first encounters with Trifena......Page 174
Ali Kajvaltik spas preba: the God makes a test......Page 175
A traditional medicine-woman Micaela: 'This is something precious which she did not know how to appreciate'......Page 176
A modern neurosurgeon Dr Araujo: 'This is an illness like any other'......Page 178
Trifena: the interludium......Page 179
Juan: My mind is absurd, isn't it?......Page 181
A spiders' war: a 'perspicuous' annotation to Trifena's story......Page 183
References......Page 190
12 Epilogue -Multiple Medical Realities: Reflections from Medical Anthropology......Page 192
Multiple realities of body and self......Page 193
Or versus and: exclusive ontologies or multiple social realities......Page 194
Placebo as common key to different medical realities......Page 195
Downward from beyond......Page 196
Games without frontiers......Page 198
Ecology of symbolic worlds......Page 199
In the network of multiple medical realities......Page 200
Medicine and healing......Page 202
References......Page 204
Index......Page 207
Back Cover......Page 211