Revitalizing Ayurveda
Looking for Productive Entanglements
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20237014 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Maarten Bode (0009-0006-2279-4237, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-31 |
| Publication date | 2025-02-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Asian Medicine (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1573-420X • E-ISSN: 1573-4218 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1163/15734218-12341567 |
| OpenAlex | W4407773434 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 12 |
Modern Ayurveda, a product of the colonial period, is marked by scientization, Sanskritization, and professionalization. In the last four decades of the twentieth century, Ayurvedic research by Indian government bodies mainly consisted of studies on the binomial botanical identity of Ayurvedic material medica, their physicochemical constituents, and the forced reconciliation of Ayurvedic notions with biomedical concepts. Research seldom found its way to international medical journals. India’s growing global importance, the proliferation of lifestyle diseases, and the rise of complementary and alternative medicine prompted Indian government bodies and universities to initiate laboratory studies under the banner of “Ayurveda Biology” to experimentally prove the validity of Ayurvedic notions, materials, and treatment procedures. Linking Ayurvedic notions to genomics and testing them through meticulously designed bioassays is intended to undercut the view that Ayurveda is outdated and that treatments only work because of their placebo effects. The objective is to develop Ayurvedic studies that will find their way to internationally acclaimed medical and biological journals. This paper critically examines two of these research projects and argues that the nascent Ayurveda Biology research community should also seek inspiration from the medical humanities and the philosophy of science. Otherwise, Ayurveda’s mindful and ecological body will be cut to size on the Procrustean bed of structural biology
Alternative medicine · Asian studies · China · Pathology · Political science · Traditional medicine · Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies · Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies · Herbal Medicine Research Studies · Law · Medicine
Studies on Indian Medical History
An ‘Ayurveda-Biology’ platform for integrative diabetes management
Doctoring traditions
Ayurveda made modern
The Jungle and the Aroma of Meats
Reconsidering the Placebo Response from a Broad Anthropological Perspective
Fluent Bodies
The Practice of Texts
Introduction
Classical Sāṃkhya. An Interpretation of Its History and Meaning
The Mindful Body
Ayurvedic college education, reifying biomedicine and the need for reflexivity
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |