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Language
English (en)
Date of Award
3-1-2014
Author's Department
International and Area Studies
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)
Restricted/Unrestricted
Restricted
Abstract
Seeing ancient Chinese language and imagery employed as a marketing strategy piqued my interest in healthcare seeking patterns for reproductive disorders in China, the birthplace of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I launched this geographic transition with a few questions: If harkening to ancient China can sell TCM to UK residents, to what extent does this attract Chinese citizens? What motivates women to use TCM to treat infertility rather than biomedicine, especially considering the popularity of ARTs in China (Handwerker 2002)? How are biomedicine and TCM understood in relation to one another? These questions formed the foundation of my study. In this thesis, | provide a multilateral narrative of infertility care with TCM in Shanghai, China that considers the perspectives of TCM practitioners, patients, and the state. My in-depth and multisited fieldwork provides a cross-sectional view of dynamic processes of healthcare seeking, governmental regulation, and cultural valuation of reproduction. These processes are both the root and fruit of wider global phenomena given that Shanghai is a figurative and literal port of exchange between China and the developed world.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7936/3sqw-c361
Mentor
Geoff Childs
Recommended Citation
Minor, Jessica P., "Mixed Magic: Syncretism of Biomedicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treatment of Female Infertility in Shanghai, China" (2014). Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses. 173.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.7936/3sqw-c361
Comments
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