E-grāmata: Situating religion and medicine in Asia: Methodological insights and innovations

This edited volume presents the latest research on the intersection of religion and medicine in Asia. It features chapters by internationally known scholars, who bring to bear a range of methodological and geographic expertise on this topic. The book’s central question is to what extent ‘religion’ and ‘medicine’ have overlapped or interrelated in various Asian societies. Collectively, the contributions explore a number of related issues, such as: which societies separated out religious from medical concerns, at which times and in what ways? Where have medicine and religion converged, and how has such knowledge been defined by scholars and cultural actors? Are ‘religion’ and ‘medicine’ the best terms by which scholars can grapple with knowledge about the sacred and the self, destiny and disease?

This volume presents studies of the of the mobilisation of practices for health and spiritual well-being in various regions and times across Asia. The chapters use a common structure to situate these practices within their regions and times, demonstrating how they circulated across religious, medical and scientific domains. Introducing methodological tools and positions, the chapters make a critical intervention into the histories of Science, Medicine and Religion in Asia.