Debility and the Moral Imagination in Botswana / Edition 1

by Julie Livingston

Overview

In the rush to development in Botswana, and Africa more generally, changes in work, diet, and medical care have resulted in escalating experiences of chronic illness, debilitating disease, and accident. Debility and the Moral Imagination in Botswana documents how transformations wrought by colonialism, independence, industrialization, and development have effected changes in bodily life and perceptions of health, illness, and debility. In this intimate and powerful book, Julie Livingston explores the lives of debilitated persons, their caregivers, the medical and social networks of caring, and methods that communities have adopted for promoting well-being. Livingston traces how Tswana medical thought and practice have become intertwined with Western bio-medical ideas and techniques. By focusing on experiences and meanings of illness and bodily misfortune, Livingston sheds light on the complexities of the current HIV/AIDS epidemic and places it in context with a long and complex history of impairment and debility. This book presents practical and thoughtful responses to physical misfortune and offers an understanding of the complex dynamic between social change and suffering.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253217851
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	10/20/2005
Series:	African Systems of Thought
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Julie Livingston is Assistant Professor of History at Rutgers University.

Table of Contents

Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Themes and Orientation
1. Family Matters and Money Matters
2. Public Health and Developing Persons
3. Male Migration and the Pluralization of Medicine
4. Increasing Autonomy, Entangled Therapeutics, and Hidden Wombs
5. Postcolonial Development and Constrained Care
Conclusion
Glossary
Notes
Sources
Index

Editorial Reviews

". . . an important milestone . . . ."—Sheridan Griswold, Correspondent, Mmegi, June 5, 2009

". . . an important milestone . . . .June 5, 2009"—Sheridan Griswold, Correspondent

From the Publisher

. . . an important milestone . . . .

Mmegi - Sheridan Griswold

. . . an important milestone . . . .

Mmegi - Sheridan Griswold]]>

"... an important milestone...." —Sheridan Griswold, Correspondent, Mmegi, June 5, 2009

— Sheridan Griswold, Correspondent

Mmegi

Up-to-date and informed, current with the best work in the field, it is highly recommended for college courses on Africa.
—Paul Landau

South African Historical Journal