The Anthropology of Alternative Medicine
The Anthropology of Alternative Medicine
Editor/Author
Ross, Anamaria Iosif
Publication Year: 2012
Publisher: Berg
Price: Core Collection Only

ISBN: 978-1-84520-801-1
Category: Social Sciences - Anthropology
Book Status: Available
Table of Contents
A concise yet wide-ranging exploration of the cultural underpinnings of non-biomedical healing.
This book is found in the following Credo Collections:
Table of Contents
- 1 Alternative Medicine in the Twenty-First Century
- Conflicting Interests Pertaining to the Rise of Integrative Medicine
- What Distinguishes an Anthropological Approach to Alternative Healing?
- Dominant Themes and Organization of the Book
- Anthropology and the Human Journey
- Healing Power and Agency
- What Are Cultural Constructions and Why Does It Matter to Health Care?
- A Bird's Eye Overview of Core Concepts in Medical Anthropology
- Curing or Healing?
- Biomedicine and Traditional Medicine
- Plural Healing in the Global Age: Intersections of Meaning and Power
- Current Practice: Helminths Return as Promising New Drugs
- 2 Substance, Energy, and Information Flows
- From the Flow of Rumors to Exposing the Global Traffic in Organs and Tissues
- Duality of Water: Vitality and Contamination
- Current Practice: Homeopathy
- Energy, Life-Force, and the Powers of the Sun
- Nourishment and Healing
- The American Health Foods Movement in the Early Twentieth Century
- Rising Trend: Alternative Consumption Movements in the Developed World
- Humoral Medical Traditions, Foods, and Herbs
- Case Study: ELTA Universitate—Natural Foods, Anesthesia, and Social Renewal
- Of Information and the Triadic Approach
- Energy, Dowsing, and Information
- 3 Spirit, Consciousness, and Trance
- Altered States, Bodies, and Souls
- Shamanic Consciousness and Symbolic Healing
- Hypnosis, Spirit(s), and Healing
- Current Practice: Rediscovering Hesychasm and the Prayer of the Heart
- Rising Trend: Healing Addictions with ASCs and Hallucinogens
- Faith Healing and Pilgrimage
- Ayurveda and Mental Illness
- 4 Body, Movement, and the Senses
- The Anthropology of Sensations and the Multidimensionality of Healing Work
- Smell and Taste
- Tactile Experiences
- Rhythm, Movement, and Music as Life
- Case Study: Becoming Radiant—Real Reiki in Postsocialist Romania
- Ascent into the Future: Aromatherapy, Art, and Science, Ancient and Modern
- Current Practice: Medical Aromatherapy
- Polythetic Medicine
- 5 Conclusion: Looking into the Future of Alternative Medicine
- Acknowledgments
- References