ANT100Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Ethnobotany, Biomedicine, Ethnography
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ANT100Y1 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Development anthropology: branch of applied anthropology focused on the social and cultural dimensions of economic development. Development anthropologists help plan and guide development policies and projects. Comparative study of 68 projects revealed that culturally capatible projects have double success rate. Study of disease, health problems, health care systems, and theories about illness in different culture and ethnic groups. Study health care and healing as cultural systems. Health-care systems: beliefs, customs, specialists and techniques aimed at ensuring health and preventing, diagnosing and treating illness. Despite advances, many bio-medical procedures have little scientific justification. Perceptions of illness and health culturally constructed and vary between cultures. Illness: condition of poor health perceived or felt by an individual. Personalistic illness theories: illness caused by agents sorcerers, witches, ghosts. Naturalistic illness theory: illness explained in impersonal terms (biomedicine) ex. Forces of nature, bodily balance ( hot and cold ) Ethnobotany is the field that studies the cultural use of plants, often for medical purposes.
