V Sujatha
Biographic Data
| ID | 4527889 |
|---|---|
| NAME | V Sujatha |
| GIVEN NAMES | V |
| FAMILY NAME | Sujatha |
| SIGNATURE | SUJATHA V |
| AFFILIATIONS | Jawaharlal Nehru University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7663-7129 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 35 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Of informal practitioners of biomedicine. The interplay of medicine, economy and society in India
I
Health behaviour of the people is said to be shaped by market forces, scientific or religious institutions or the state. It is pertinent to examine the dominant institutions that shape health cultures in any society, at any given point in time. While public health has not been a priority for the Indian state, the COVID-19 pandemic created an unmistakable opportunity for state regulation. It is the argument of this article that the state has been …
Global Capital and Social Difference
Globalisation of South Asian Medicines
The discourses on globalisation focus their attention on the flow of capital and technology from the global North. Historical, anthropological and sociological studies, however, point to crucial flows of medical knowledge, health practices, medicinal plants, other genetic resources and the first-hand knowledge of their applications into the global North from other regions rich in biodiversity. These flows do not just continue to happen but have b…
The Universal and the Global
Fifty years ago, South Asian medicines were regarded as ethnomedicines devoid of scientific credibility as they were not verifiable under controlled laboratory conditions. By the 1990s, however, South Asian medicines entered the global health market, specially, Western Europe and North America despite the opposition from scientific lobbies. Ayurveda’s presence in Europe is not comparable to Chinese medicine and is probably fourth or fifth in the …
Econometric and Existential Understanding of Food
There is much debate on the reasons for the poor nutritional status of the population amidst high economic growth in the country. A profusion of correlations and statistical averages characterizes mainstream nutritional discourses that are based on the notion of food as a thing that could be measured and understood in terms of numerical values. Much as the quantitative approach is necessary to guide public policy and to provide the basic food sec…
What Is the Sociology behind Health Status and Health-seeking Behaviour
Health status and health-seeking behaviour are commonly studied in the context of human development and public health. Numerous studies measuring health status and the utilisation of health services are conducted, and a considerable amount of statistical correlations and analyses have been generated. These are valuable baselines but are often accepted as given and immutable. What could be a sociological approach to numerical data? The aim of this…
Innovation within and between Traditions
This paper seeks to bring the study of Asian medical systems from cultural studies into the ambit of social studies of science. It examines issues pertaining to innovation in indigenous systems of medicine (ISM) in contemporary India, with specific reference to siddha medicine. Drawing upon Kuhn’s theory of growth of scientific knowledge, the paper argues that only innovations within an epistemic tradition contribute to its incremental growth. On…
Pluralism in Indian medicine
When engaging in cross-cultural comparisons, medical anthropology has often tended to employ dichotomous typologies. This results in a reductionist analysis that obliterates the complexities within medical cultures and assimilates them into one homogenous type. This article makes a case for studying the different sources of medical knowledge within the category of 'Indian medicine' as they emerge from the differing ontological positions yet inter…
Food
This paper analyses the ideas and practices about food in village Tamil Nadu and discusses the village-folk's knowlege of health. It is divided into three parts: the first part outlines the content of the villagers' diet; the second part examines their ideas relating to food and its signifiance, and the norms governing food and eating; and the third part hihlights the features of medical lore as knowledge system
Pluralism in Indian medicine
When engaging in cross-cultural comparisons, medical anthropology has often tended to employ dichotomous typologies. This results in a reductionist analysis that obliterates the complexities within medical cultures and assimilates them into one homogenous type. This article makes a case for studying the different sources of medical knowledge within the category of 'Indian medicine' as they emerge from the differing ontological positions yet inter…
Innovation within and between Traditions
This paper seeks to bring the study of Asian medical systems from cultural studies into the ambit of social studies of science. It examines issues pertaining to innovation in indigenous systems of medicine (ISM) in contemporary India, with specific reference to siddha medicine. Drawing upon Kuhn’s theory of growth of scientific knowledge, the paper argues that only innovations within an epistemic tradition contribute to its incremental growth. On…
Food
This paper analyses the ideas and practices about food in village Tamil Nadu and discusses the village-folk's knowlege of health. It is divided into three parts: the first part outlines the content of the villagers' diet; the second part examines their ideas relating to food and its signifiance, and the norms governing food and eating; and the third part hihlights the features of medical lore as knowledge system
I
Health behaviour of the people is said to be shaped by market forces, scientific or religious institutions or the state. It is pertinent to examine the dominant institutions that shape health cultures in any society, at any given point in time. While public health has not been a priority for the Indian state, the COVID-19 pandemic created an unmistakable opportunity for state regulation. It is the argument of this article that the state has been …
The Universal and the Global
Fifty years ago, South Asian medicines were regarded as ethnomedicines devoid of scientific credibility as they were not verifiable under controlled laboratory conditions. By the 1990s, however, South Asian medicines entered the global health market, specially, Western Europe and North America despite the opposition from scientific lobbies. Ayurveda’s presence in Europe is not comparable to Chinese medicine and is probably fourth or fifth in the …
What Is the Sociology behind Health Status and Health-seeking Behaviour
Health status and health-seeking behaviour are commonly studied in the context of human development and public health. Numerous studies measuring health status and the utilisation of health services are conducted, and a considerable amount of statistical correlations and analyses have been generated. These are valuable baselines but are often accepted as given and immutable. What could be a sociological approach to numerical data? The aim of this…
Food
This paper analyses the ideas and practices about food in village Tamil Nadu and discusses the village-folk's knowlege of health. It is divided into three parts: the first part outlines the content of the villagers' diet; the second part examines their ideas relating to food and its signifiance, and the norms governing food and eating; and the third part hihlights the features of medical lore as knowledge system
Pluralism in Indian medicine
When engaging in cross-cultural comparisons, medical anthropology has often tended to employ dichotomous typologies. This results in a reductionist analysis that obliterates the complexities within medical cultures and assimilates them into one homogenous type. This article makes a case for studying the different sources of medical knowledge within the category of 'Indian medicine' as they emerge from the differing ontological positions yet inter…
Innovation within and between Traditions
This paper seeks to bring the study of Asian medical systems from cultural studies into the ambit of social studies of science. It examines issues pertaining to innovation in indigenous systems of medicine (ISM) in contemporary India, with specific reference to siddha medicine. Drawing upon Kuhn’s theory of growth of scientific knowledge, the paper argues that only innovations within an epistemic tradition contribute to its incremental growth. On…
Econometric and Existential Understanding of Food
There is much debate on the reasons for the poor nutritional status of the population amidst high economic growth in the country. A profusion of correlations and statistical averages characterizes mainstream nutritional discourses that are based on the notion of food as a thing that could be measured and understood in terms of numerical values. Much as the quantitative approach is necessary to guide public policy and to provide the basic food sec…
What Is the Sociology behind Health Status and Health-seeking Behaviour
Health status and health-seeking behaviour are commonly studied in the context of human development and public health. Numerous studies measuring health status and the utilisation of health services are conducted, and a considerable amount of statistical correlations and analyses have been generated. These are valuable baselines but are often accepted as given and immutable. What could be a sociological approach to numerical data? The aim of this…
Global Capital and Social Difference
Globalisation of South Asian Medicines
The discourses on globalisation focus their attention on the flow of capital and technology from the global North. Historical, anthropological and sociological studies, however, point to crucial flows of medical knowledge, health practices, medicinal plants, other genetic resources and the first-hand knowledge of their applications into the global North from other regions rich in biodiversity. These flows do not just continue to happen but have b…
The Universal and the Global
Fifty years ago, South Asian medicines were regarded as ethnomedicines devoid of scientific credibility as they were not verifiable under controlled laboratory conditions. By the 1990s, however, South Asian medicines entered the global health market, specially, Western Europe and North America despite the opposition from scientific lobbies. Ayurveda’s presence in Europe is not comparable to Chinese medicine and is probably fourth or fifth in the …
I
Health behaviour of the people is said to be shaped by market forces, scientific or religious institutions or the state. It is pertinent to examine the dominant institutions that shape health cultures in any society, at any given point in time. While public health has not been a priority for the Indian state, the COVID-19 pandemic created an unmistakable opportunity for state regulation. It is the argument of this article that the state has been …
Of informal practitioners of biomedicine. The interplay of medicine, economy and society in India
Sociology (9 works) · Social science (8 works) · Medicine (7 works) · Law (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Economics (4 works) · Epistemology (4 works) · Geography (4 works) · Economic growth (3 works) · Law (3 works)