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Critical Medical Anthropology presents inspiring work from scholars doing and engaging with ethnographic research in or from Latin America, addressing themes that are central to contemporary Critical Medical Anthropology (CMA). This includes issues of inequality, embodiment of history, indigeneity, non-communicable diseases, gendered violence, migration, substance abuse, reproductive politics and judicialisation, as these relate to health. The collection of ethnographically informed research, including original theoretical contributions, reconsiders the broader relevance of CMA perspectives for addressing current global healthcare challenges from and of Latin America. It includes work spanning four countries in Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala and Peru) as well as the trans-migratory contexts they connect and are defined by. By drawing on diverse social practices, it addresses challenges of central relevance to medical anthropology and global health, including reproduction and maternal health, sex work, rare and chronic diseases, the pharmaceutical industry and questions of agency, political economy, identity, ethnicity, and human rights.
Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar offer an in-depth exploration of the spread of indigenous shamanic rituals of the Amazon to Western societies, looking at how indigenous, mestizo, and cosmopolitan cultures have engaged with and transformed these forest traditions. The authors focus on the use of ayahuasca, a psychoactive drink essential in many indigenous shamanic rituals.
The book presents the dynamics associated with the transformations and revitalization of the shamanic universe and strategies used to negotiate with the invisible beings. Making a rich contribution to the ethnology of Latin American lowlands, it demonstrates that ethnography is a social relationship. The text makes evident that the author, upon entering and leaving the territory, also enters and leaves the canons of anthropology. In the unfolding of the narrative, shaped as an academic autobiography, the details of the fieldwork experience flourish and result in timely reflections.
Beginning with the Grand Rapids Dam in the 1960s, hydroelectric development has dramatically altered the social, political, and physical landscape of northern Manitoba. The Nelson River has been cut up into segments and fractured by a string of dams, for which the Churchill River had to be diverted and new inflow points from Lake Winnipeg created to manage their capacity. Historic mighty rapids have shrivelled into dry river beds. Manitoba Hydro's Keeyask dam and generating station will expand the existing network of 15 dams and 13,800 km of transmission lines. In Our Backyard tells the story of the Keeyask dam and accompanying development on the Nelson River from the perspective of Indigeno...
The Radical Otherness That Heals proposes an interesting theoretical advance in various schools of local and regional, and national and transnational analysis. It is based on a multilocal ethnography and a detailed sociological and political reading of the interactions between institutions and social and cultural representations of otherness. The original theoretical proposal consists of reading the reconfiguration of shamanisms stemming from processes of ethnicization and patrimonialization, and skillfully reconstructing the national ideological space and the most recent effects of multiculturalism through representations of otherness Anne-Marie Losonczy, Director of Studies at the Ecole Pr...
This book examines how contemporary militant democracies persist in the face of authoritarian abuses occurring during times of crisis. Focusing on founding members of the European Union, it explores how these democracies implemented anti-democratic measures without compromising their political rights and civil liberty ratings. By expanding the conceptual framework and theory of neo- and quasi-militant democracies through case studies and comparative analysis, the volume offers new insights into factors contributing to democratic endurance. Respective authors shift scholarly attention toward the epistemic construction of anti-democratic restrictions, arguing that epistemic fairness in definin...
Powerful narratives often describe Latin American nations as fundamentally mestizo. These narratives have hampered the acknowledgment of racism in the region, but recent multiculturalist reforms have increased recognition of Black and Indigenous identities and cultures. Multiculturalism may focus on identity and visibility and address more casual and social forms of racism, but can also distract attention from structural racism and racialized inequality, and constrain larger antiracist initiatives. Additionally, multiple understandings of how racism and antiracism fit into projects of social transformation make racism a complex and multifaceted issue. The essays in Against Racism examine actors in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico that move beyond recognition politics to address structural inequalities and material conflicts and build common ground with other marginalized groups. The organizations in this study advocate an approach to deep social structural transformation that is inclusive, fosters alliances, and is inspired by a radical imagination.
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. This carefully conceived Handbook presents a state-of-the-art discussion of the field of social impact assessment (SIA), highlighting contemporary understandings and emerging issues in this continually evolving area of research and practice. Experienced SIA practitioners from around the world share their learnings and advice on a comprehensive range of issues faced in social performance practice.
Within the social sciences, other-than-human being’s agency has often been denied and interbeings relationships have not been fully addressed. However, many indigenous worldviews and Western contemporary spiritual practices are shaping a very different reality, with various attempts to share the world with non-human beings, animate or inanimate, creating forms of relationships to “the living”. This edited volume documents how humans deal with non-human entities in a large variety of cultural contexts. It focuses on ritual processes and how ritual creativity is mobilised to invent new ways of relating with more-than-humans. Comprising nine case studies, the volume is divided into three ...
Ceremonies of drinking the psychoactive brew ayahuasca have flourished across the planet in recent decades. Emerging from Indigenous roots in the Amazon rainforest, the brew is now envisaged by many as the spiritual gateway to archaic and primordial worlds, with reports of healing, spiritual insight, and awe-inspiring visions placing ayahuasca among the burgeoning field of psychedelic medicines. Astonished and allured by descriptions of ayahuasca experiences, researchers in psychology, anthropology, and philosophy have attempted to define the shared properties of the visions. In this book, Alex Gearin challenges this simplified obsession with universal truth and explores the embodied practic...