Papers by Chithprabha Kudlu
Routledge eBooks, Feb 18, 2022
I would have almost skipped this section had it not been mandatory, not because I had nothing to ... more I would have almost skipped this section had it not been mandatory, not because I had nothing to be grateful for, but because it is daunting to condense volumes of unstructured emotion into a few trite sounding words, and worse, having to do it without the support of a theoretical framework. If the the rule was intended to ensure that nobody gets a doctorate awarded without going through a deeply humbling moment of realization, it has certainly succeeded. Let me begin with thanking the Washington University and the Department of Anthropology for the fellowships and assistantships that made this journey feasible and additionally, for the financial support provided for pilot study and dissertation writing. I admire and appreciate the academic flexibility and rigor of the American university culture that inspired me to this outlandish proposition of coming all the way from India only to go back to study local knowledge; I have not been in the least bit disappointed in my expectations. I am guilty of commodifying traditional knowledge myself, if you will, by selling the idea to Wenner
Asian Medicine, Sep 2, 2019
India’s share in the global herbal market is dwarfed by that of China. Public and policy discours... more India’s share in the global herbal market is dwarfed by that of China. Public and policy discourse in India exhorts Ayurvedic stakeholders to emulate Chinese medicine’s “science-based approach” to expand their global market share. But contrary to popular perception in India, China has been largely unsuccessful in making inroads into the coveted Euro-American herbal medicine market. Chinese medicine’s global footprint is largely the result of historical-cultural links, diasporic influences, and acupuncture practitioners. With national traditional medicine policies increasingly shaped by the evidence-based regulatory paradigm, the future of these informal bottom-up pathways is uncertain. Ignoring the roots of Chinese medicine’s global career has led to a distorted image of its “success” as an outcome of state investment in scientific validation and standardization programs. Our findings underscore the need to critically examine the imaginaries of success that drive stakeholders of non-biomedical traditions toward scientization to earn legitimacy and profits in the global realm.
Food, Culture, and Society, Mar 1, 2013
ABSTRACT
Anthropology & Medicine, Jun 21, 2016
Ethnographic inquiry into Ayurvedic commodification in Kerala revealed the prevalence of a distin... more Ethnographic inquiry into Ayurvedic commodification in Kerala revealed the prevalence of a distinct regional pharmaceutical market dominated by physician-manufacturers, oriented towards supplying classical medicines to Ayurvedic doctors. This stands in sharp contrast to mainstream Ayurveda that is observed to have undergone biomedicalization and pharmaceuticalization. This paper argues that Kerala's classical-medicine-centric pharmaceutical market constitutes an alternative modernity because it provided Kerala Ayurveda with a different route to modernization impervious to the biomedical regime, as well as endowing it with the institutional power to safeguard its regional identity. Although physician-entrepreneurs are its key architects, it is sustained by value regimes shaped by a unique regional medico-cultural milieu. Even when industrially produced, classical medicines remain embedded within Ayurveda's socio-technical network; unlike proprietary drugs sold as individual product-identities through non-Ayurvedic channels, they travel together as a pharmacopeia, distributed through exclusive doctor-mediated agencies. This clinic-centric distribution format is best conceptualized as an open-source business model as it made low-margin generics viable by packaging them with therapies and services. Besides ensuring better access and affordability, it provided resistance to pharmaceuticalization and intellectual property concentration. By keeping the doctor in the loop, it prevented medicines from degenerating into de-contextualized commodities; the service component of Ayurveda therein preserved went on become the unique selling point in the health-tourism market. The tourism-inspired proliferation of Brand Kerala eventually triggered a paradigm shift in mainstream Ayurveda - shifting focus from 'pharmaceuticals' to 'services' and from 'illness' to 'wellness'. Furthermore, interacting with hybrid Ayurvedas in transnational markets, Kerala Ayurveda co-produces new alterities countervailing the structurally dominant biomedical paradigm.
The Journal of Social Psychology, 1995
Generation rate of construction wastes in Korea has occupied preponderantly in recent years. To u... more Generation rate of construction wastes in Korea has occupied preponderantly in recent years. To understand chemical properties of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), RCA samples were tested for their leaching characteristics. Leaching tests were conducted according to Korean Standard Leaching Test (KLT) and Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) respectively. The RCA samples were characterized using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). Alkalinity of the leachate was determined using a pH meter titration method. The XRF analysis result shows that the calcium oxide (CaO) content in the RCA sample is 25.3~50.4 %. When the RCA sample was mixed with water in a batch reactor, pH in the solution was rapidly increased, and 70% of the total pH change was found in 1 hour. The TCLP showed slightly higher efficiency for leaching heavy metals than the KLT. The leaching efficiency was also higher as the particle size of RCA sample was smaller. The leaching test results suggest that RCA can be generally classified as nonhazardous waste.
Asian Medical Industries, 2022
India's share in the global herbal market is dwarfed by that of China. Public and policy discours... more India's share in the global herbal market is dwarfed by that of China. Public and policy discourse in India exhorts Ayurvedic stakeholders to emulate Chinese medicine's "science-based approach" to expand their global market share. But contrary to popular perception in India, China has been largely unsuccessful in making inroads into the coveted Euro-American herbal medicine market. Chinese medicine's global footprint is largely the result of historical-cultural links, diasporic influences, and acupuncture practitioners. With national traditional medicine policies increasingly shaped by the evidence-based regulatory paradigm, the future of these informal bottom-up pathways is uncertain. Ignoring the roots of Chinese medicine's global career has led to a distorted image of its "success" as an outcome of state investment in scientific validation and standardization programs. Our findings underscore the need to critically examine the imaginaries of success that drive stakeholders of non-biomedical traditions toward scientization to earn legitimacy and profits in the global realm.
Asian Medicine, 2019
India’s share in the global herbal market is dwarfed by that of China. Public and policy discours... more India’s share in the global herbal market is dwarfed by that of China. Public and policy discourse in India exhorts Ayurvedic stakeholders to emulate Chinese medicine’s “science-based approach” to expand their global market share. But contrary to popular perception in India, China has been largely unsuccessful in making inroads into the coveted Euro-American herbal medicine market. Chinese medicine’s global footprint is largely the result of historical-cultural links, diasporic influences, and acupuncture practitioners. With national traditional medicine policies increasingly shaped by the evidence-based regulatory paradigm, the future of these informal bottom-up pathways is uncertain. Ignoring the roots of Chinese medicine’s global career has led to a distorted image of its “success” as an outcome of state investment in scientific validation and standardization programs. Our findings underscore the need to critically examine the imaginaries of success that drive stakeholders of non...
Food, Culture and Society: An International Journal of MultidisciplinaryResearch, 2013
Although planting of genetically modified (GM) crops has topped 148 million ha. worldwide, direct... more Although planting of genetically modified (GM) crops has topped 148 million ha. worldwide, direct consumption of GM foods remains extremely rare. The obstacles to GM foods are highly varied and they can provide windows into important cultural dynamics. India's heated controversy over its would-be first GM food-Bt brinjal (eggplant)-is driven not only by common concerns over testing and corporate control of food, but by its clash with the Ayurvedic medical establishment. GM brinjal may outcross with wild relatives commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine, and claims that outcrossing would not affect medical efficacy miss the point. Ayurveda emphasizes polyherbal treatments and has developed an epistemology oriented towards complex combinations of compounds. As such it does not recognize the authority of specific studies of transgene effects. The conflict is not with genetic modification per se, but with the reductionism that is central to the biotechnology approvals process. This opposition has played a significant role in the government moratorium on the plant.
Ethnographic inquiry into Ayurvedic commodification in Kerala revealed the prevalence of a distin... more Ethnographic inquiry into Ayurvedic commodification in Kerala revealed the prevalence of a distinct regional pharmaceutical market dominated by physician-manufacturers, oriented towards supplying classical medicines to Ayurvedic doctors. This stands in sharp contrast to mainstream Ayurveda that is observed to have undergone biomedicalization and pharmaceuticalization. This paper argues that Kerala's classical-medicine-centric pharmaceutical market constitutes an alternative modernity because it provided Kerala Ayurveda with a different route to modernization impervious to the biomedical regime, as well as endowing it with the institutional power to safeguard its regional identity. Although physician-entrepreneurs are its key architects, it is sustained by value regimes shaped by a unique regional medico-cultural milieu. Even when industrially produced, classical medicines remain embedded within Ayurveda's socio-technical network; unlike proprietary drugs sold as individual product-identities through non-Ayurvedic channels, they travel together as a pharmacopeia, distributed through exclusive doctor-mediated agencies. This clinic-centric distribution format is best conceptualized as an opensource business model as it made low-margin generics viable by packaging them with therapies and services. Besides ensuring better access and affordability, it provided resistance to pharmaceuticalization and intellectual property concentration. By keeping the doctor in the loop, it prevented medicines from degenerating into de-contextualized commodities; the service component of Ayurveda therein preserved went on become the unique selling point in the health-tourism market. The tourism-inspired proliferation of Brand Kerala eventually triggered a paradigm shift in mainstream Ayurveda shifting focus from 'pharmaceuticals' to 'services' and from 'illness' to 'wellness'. Furthermore, interacting with hybrid Ayurvedas in transnational markets, Kerala Ayurveda co-produces new alterities countervailing the structurally dominant biomedical paradigm.
Although planting of genetically modified (GM) crops has topped 148 million ha. worldwide, direct... more Although planting of genetically modified (GM) crops has topped 148 million ha. worldwide, direct consumption of GM foods remains extremely rare. The obstacles to GM foods are highly varied and they can provide windows into important cultural dynamics. India's heated controversy over its would-be first GM food-Bt brinjal (eggplant)-is driven not only by common concerns over testing and corporate control of food, but by its clash with the Ayurvedic medical establishment. GM brinjal may outcross with wild relatives commonly used in Ayurvedic medicine, and claims that outcrossing would not affect medical efficacy miss the point. Ayurveda emphasizes polyherbal treatments and has developed an epistemology oriented towards complex combinations of compounds. As such it does not recognize the authority of specific studies of transgene effects. The conflict is not with genetic modification per se, but with the reductionism that is central to the biotechnology approvals process. This opposition has played a significant role in the government moratorium on the plant.
The Journal of social psychology, Jan 1, 1995
... Login to save citations to My List. Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. A compar... more ... Login to save citations to My List. Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. A comparison of urban and rural students on scholastic and related variables. Chithprabha, Kudlu; Kanekar, Suresh. The Journal of Social Psychology, Vol 135(1), Feb 1995, 117-118. Abstract. ...
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Papers by Chithprabha Kudlu