Raising the Dust

• Offers a highly original and revealingly analysis of the philosophy and practice of traditional healing in southern Malawi, and the impact of environmental degradation and market forces on those practices
• Valuable resource for researchers in the expanding field of medical anthropology, as well as to development professionals who work in areas of healthcare, resource management and sustainability
• Synthesizes theoretical debates around traditional ecological knowledge and radical ecology
• Highlights the living nature of traditional medicine, ensuring it remains an integral part of maintaining health and wellbeing over the long term

Auteur
Following a passionate interest in holistic health, and having a particular interest in cross-cultural onto-epistemologies, Dr Theresa Jones has worked in many different roles across the health, social welfare and education sectors. She is motivated by the need to address health as a social justice issue and as an ecological imperative.

Texte du rabat
Raising the Dust explores the relationship between human and ecological health through the lens of African traditional medicine, as practiced in the south of Malawi. The book employs an ethnographic methodology using the primary methods of semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The fieldwork for the research was conducted in the Mulanje Mountain Biosphere and the findings are presented as a narrative exploration of insider and outsider positions, in this context. The conceptual framework for the book encompasses a broad range of ecological ideas, focussing mainly on traditional ecological knowledge and radical ecology. The holistic theoretical framework for the book emerges in a grounded way from out of the fieldwork experience. The book is written in plain language and will appeal to anyone interested in holistic health outlooks, particularly cross-cultural health and wellbeing narratives.

Contenu
Chapter One: Unwrapping.- Chapter Two: Methodology.- Chapter Three: Traditional Medical Practice.- Chapter Four: Women's Knowledge, Women's Work.- Chapter Five: Community Relationships.- Chapter Six: Footprints, Pedals and Pathways.- Chapter Seven: The Market.- Chapter Eight: The State of the Biosphere Reserve.- Chapter Nine: Theoretical Reflections.- Chapter Ten: Wrapping Up.