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Since the turn of the century Singapore has sustained a reputation for both austere governance and cutting-edge biomedical facilities and research. Seeking to emphasize Singapore’s capacity for “modern medicine” and strengthen their burgeoning biopharmaceutical industry, this image has explicitly excluded Chinese medicine – despite its tremendous popularity amongst Singaporeans from all walks of life, and particularly amongst Singapore’s ethnic Chinese majority. This book examines the use and practice of Chinese medicine in Singapore, especially in everyday life, and contributes to anthropological debates regarding the post-colonial intersection of knowledge, identity, and governmentality, and to transnational studies of Chinese medicine as a permeable, plural, and fluid practice.
“[This book} suggests that we should carefully examine the position of Chinese medicine in China, especially to notice its potentially unequal power relations with nationality medicine. In doing so, critical medical anthropology has the potential to overstep the medical domain and contribute to the broader discussion of ethnicity, nationalism, and post-colonial theory. In this sense, this book is also highly recommended for anyone interested in Southeast Asian society and the study of overseas Chinese more generally.” • Newbooks.asia
“Lucid and beautifully written… A refreshing look at Chinese medicine and ‘medicine’ more broadly speaking.” • Mei Zhan, University of California, Irvine
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
Introduction: Mercurial Assemblages and Analytical Bricolage
Chapter 1. Chinese Medicine Unbound
Chapter 2. From Imaginative Geography to Collective Lobotomy
Chapter 3. Power in Technique and Techniques of Power
Chapter 4. Making Sense and Sensation
Chapter 5. Heat, Health, and the Experienced Environment
Chapter 6. Of Nutrients and Nourishment
Chapter 7. Positionality, Power, and the Politics of Representation
Glossary of Transliterated Mandarin Chinese Terms
Bibliography
Index