An Open Secret


Book Description

Many women throughout the world face the challenge of confronting an unexpected or an unwanted pregnancy, yet these experiences are often shrouded in silence. An Open Secret draws on personal interviews and medical records to uncover the history of women’s experiences with unwanted pregnancy and abortion in the South American country of Bolivia. This Andean nation is home to a diverse population of indigenous and mixed-race individuals who practice a range of medical traditions. Centering on the cities of La Paz and El Alto, the book explores how women decided whether to continue or terminate their pregnancies and the medical practices to which women recurred in their search for reproductive health care between the early 1950s and 2010. It demonstrates that, far from constituting private events with little impact on the public sphere, women’s intimate experiences with pregnancy contributed to changing policies and services in reproductive health in Bolivia.







Medicinas y cuerpos en América Latina


Book Description

Salud y enfermedad se expresan en el cuerpo, y éste habla por tanto de manera nítida a través de la enfermedad. Sin embargo, estos conceptos resultan tremendamente variables según los contextos culturales en los que se asienten, representándose así el ser humano como una entidad plural y relativizada por la antropología. En este sentido, cabría decir que se impone la necesidad de un entendimiento intercultural entre las ideas de cuerpo y persona, y el intercambio de saberes médicos que en cada lugar se reconocen para procurar la salud. Un debate en el que desgraciadamente suele pesar el etnocentrismo de diferentes profesionales de la salud procedentes de un sistema biomédico occidental que muchas veces ignora estas concepciones diferentes, ocasionalmente las desprecia o se muestra incapaz de integrarlas a sus propios modelos. El volumen busca explorar la posibilidad y complejidad de las actuaciones sanitarias entre agentes y usuarios de culturas y contextos diferenciados de América Latina. Su propósito no es otro que el de favorecer la reflexión sobre aplicaciones teóricas y prácticas que la perspectiva intercultural puede ofrecer en el dominio de la salud, un tema tan en boga y a la vez tan necesitado de revisión crítica.




'Mixed Race' Studies


Book Description

Mixed race studies is one of the fastest growing, as well as one of the most important and controversial areas in the field of race and ethnic relations. Bringing together pioneering and controversial scholarship from both the social and the biological sciences, as well as the humanities, this reader charts the evolution of debates on 'race' and 'mixed race' from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. The book is divided into three main sections: tracing the origins: miscegenation, moral degeneracy and genetics mapping contemporary and foundational discourses: 'mixed race', identities politics, and celebration debating definitions: multiraciality, census categories and critiques. This collection adds a new dimension to the growing body of literature on the topic and provides a comprehensive history of the origins and directions of 'mixed race' research as an intellectual movement. For students of anthropology, race and ethnicity, it is an invaluable resource for examining the complexities and paradoxes of 'racial' thinking across space, time and disciplines.




Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine


Book Description

This is the first book to address public health issues in traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM). It presents state-of-the-art reviews of TCAM research in a range of priority public health areas such as malaria and HIV and in such common ailments as skin conditions and orthopedic injury in developing countries. Contributions analyze policy trends in areas such as financing of TCAM and education and training in this field as well as selected case studies of model TCAM projects. Important chapters on research methodology, ethical and safety issues, and intellectual property rights pertaining to traditional medicine are also presented. Public financing for TCAM is a test of the commitment of governments, and the book includes an analysis from the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Atlas data of the worldwide trends in this area. With safety concerns foremost in the minds of both policy makers and the public, the book offers a global overview of policy and legislative trends in this field as well as an important set of guidelines for pharmacovigilance and TCAM products. Sample Chapter(s). Chapter 1: Introduction (1,729 KB). Contents: Foreword (Allan Rosenfield); Policy: Introduction (Gerard Bodeker & Gemma Burford); Policy and Public Health Perspectives on Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: An Overview (Gerard Bodeker, Fredi Kronenberg & Gemma Burford); Financing Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Health Care Services and Research (Gemma Burford, Gerard Bodeker & Chi-Keong Ong); Training (Gerard Bodeker, Cora Neumann, Chi-Keong Ong & Gemma Burford); Safety: Issues and Policy (Gilbert Shia, Barry Noller & Gemma Burford); Pharmacovigilance of Herbal Medicines: A United Kingdom Perspective (Joanne Barnes); Medicinal Plant Biodiversity and Local Healthcare: Sustainable Use and Livelihood Development (Gerard Bodeker & Gemma Burford); Home Herbal Gardens OCo A Novel Health Security Strategy Based on Local Knowledge and Resources (G Hariramamurthi, P Venkatasubramanian, P M Unnikrishnan & D Shankar); Humanitarian Responses to Traditional Medicine for Refugee Care (Cora Neumann & Gerard Bodeker); Public-Private Partnerships: A Case Study from East Africa (Patrick Mbindyo); Public Health Issues: Priority Diseases and Health Conditions: Malaria (Merlin L Willcox & Gerard Bodeker); HIV/AIDS: Traditional Systems of Health Care in the Management of a Global Epidemic (Gerard Bodeker, Gemma Burford, Mark Dvorak-Little & George Carter); An Overview of Clinical Studies on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in HIV Infection and AIDS (Jianping Liu); Skin and Wound Care: Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Public Health Dermatology (Gemma Burford, Gerard Bodeker & Terence J Ryan); Traditional Orthopaedic Practices: Beyond OCyBonesettingOCO (Gemma Burford, Gerard Bodeker & Jonathan Cohen); Research: Clinical Trial Methodology (Ranjit Roy Chaudhury, Urmila Thatte & Jianping Liu); Ethical Issues in Research (Merlin L Willcox, Gerard Bodeker & Ranjit Roy Chaudhury); Intellectual Property Rights (Gerard Bodeker); Epilogue (Gerard Bodeker & Gemma Burford). Readership: Public health specialists and departments; health policy departments in ministries of health and universities; colleges of traditional and complementary medicine; World Health Organization and affiliated institutions; medical schools as a background text on TCAM."




Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate Change in the Global South


Book Description

This volume integrates a conceptual framework with participatory methodologies to understand the complexities of dryland socio-ecological systems, and to address challenges and opportunities for stewardship of future drylands and climate change in the global south. Through several case studies, the book offers a transdisciplinary and participatory approach to understand the complexity of socio-ecological systems, to co-produce accurate resource management plans for sustained stewardship, and to drive social learning and polycentric governance. This systemic framework permits the study of human-nature interrelationships through time and in particular contexts, with a focus on achieving progress in accordance with the 2030 United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development. The book is divided into four main sections: 1) drylands and socio-ecological systems, 2) transdisciplinarity in drylands, 3) interculturality in drylands, and 4) the governance of drylands. Expert contributors address topics such as pastoralism and the characteristics of successful agricultural lands, the sustainable development goals and drylands, dryland modernization, and arid land governance with a focus on Mexico. The volume will be of interest to dryland researchers, sustainable development practitioners and policymakers.







Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories


Book Description

The path-breaking Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories is an accessible, multidisciplinary insight into the complex field of feminist thought. The Encyclopedia contains over 500 authoritative entries commissioned from an international team of contributors and includes clear, concise and provocative explanations of key themes and ideas. Each entry contains cross references and a bibliographic guide to further reading; over 50 biographical entries provide readers with a sense of how the theories they encounter have developed out of the lives and situations of their authors.




World in Fragments


Book Description

This collection presents a broad and compelling overview of the most recent work in philosophy, politics, and psychoanalysis by a world-renowned figure in contemporary thought.