Plants have cultural histories, as their applications change over
time and with place. Some plant species have affected human
cultures in profound ways, such as the stimulants tea and coffee
from the Old World, or coca and quinine from South America. Even
though medicinal plants have always attracted considerable
attention, there is surprisingly little research on the interface
of ethnobotany and medical anthropology. This volume, which brings
together (ethno-)botanists, medical anthropologists and a
clinician, makes an important contribution towards filling this
gap. It emphasises that plant knowledge arises situationally as an
intrinsic part of social relationships, that herbs need to be
enticed if not seduced by the healers who work with them, that
herbal remedies are cultural artefacts, and that bioprospecting and
medicinal plant discovery can be viewed as the epitome of a long
history of borrowing, stealing and exchanging plants.
Elisabeth Hsu is Reader in Social Anthropology at the University
of Oxford, where she has convened its master's courses in medical
anthropology since 2001. Based on her earlier studies in biology
(botany), linguistics and sinology, she has published widely on the
history and anthropology of Chinese medicine.
Stephen Harris was awarded a Ph.D. in plant systematics from
the University of St. Andrews in 1990. He has been the Druce
Curator of Oxford University Herbaria since 1995 and has published
over 50 peer-reviewed papers on genetics and systematics associated
with the evolutionary consequences of plant-human interactions.
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