Indigenous Medicine and Knowledge in African Society

Bibliographic Data

ID2709341
AuthorsKwasi Konadu (0000-0002-5740-5055), Kwasi B Konadu (corresponding author)
Year2007
Publication date2007-03-12
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueIndigenous Medicine and Knowledge in African Society (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4324/9780203941393
OpenAlexW4302576906
Open LibraryOL34585780M
ISBN9780203941393
LanguageEN
Citations received11

At the turn of the 20th century, African societies witnessed the suppression of indigenous healing specialists as missionary proselytization and colonial rule increased. Governments, medical practitioners and academics focused little attention or resources on the production of "traditional" medicine, despite its potential use for advancing health care delivery to millions of people in rural communities and providing the basis for a medicinal industry. Focusing on the case of Ghana, Indigenous Medicine and Knowledge in African Society investigates the ways in which healers and indigenous archives of cultural knowledge conceptualize and interpret medicine and healing. In order to unearth these prevailing concepts, Konadu utilizes in-depth interviews, plant samples, material culture, linguistics, and other sources. This groundbreaking study of indigenous knowledge has important implications for the study of medical and knowledge systems in Africa and the African Diaspora worldwide. By closely examining a range of multidisciplinary sources and utilizing fieldwork in the Takyiman district of central Ghana, the book contributes a new dimension to the study of health and healing systems in the African context and offers scholars, students, and general readers a vital reference

Biology · Ethnology · Geography · Indigenous · Political science · Sociology · Traditional knowledge · African cultural and philosophical studies · Anthropology · Global Health and Surgery · Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Agriculture · Africa · African Traditional Medicine · Attitudes · Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice · Health Knowledge, Practice · Medical anthropology · Medicinal Plants · Phytotherapy · Social life and customs · Spiritual Therapies · Traditional medicine · Ecology

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