Events

This workshop is part of the project “History and Sustainability of Animal-Based Drugs in Asian Traditional Medicines” funded by a Tier 2 grant from the Singapore Ministry of Education.

Animal parts and tissues have been used traditionally around the world as medicines as well as foods. Yet the incorporation of animals into medical systems based largely on plants is a historical process we still know comparatively little about, even in Asia, where the practice has been widespread.  In the present day, most “medicinal animals” are in crisis, the subject of illegal and legal wildlife trading, driving many to the brink of extinction. The process of “faunal medicalization” has also been implicated in the spread of zoonotic disease, even while being promoted in some quarters as a cure. Understanding the historical and contemporary forces that have brought us to this juncture is the subject of this conference.  We particularly focus on Asia as both a site and a global influence. As a site, certain Asian “traditional” medicines have transformed into “Asian industrial medicines”, with animal parts and tissues becoming raw materials for a growing pharmaceuticalization of traditional zootherapies. As an influence, Asian-centered animal trading networks now have global reach and are likely affecting or inter-mingling with pharmaceutics and zootherapies in other parts of the world. We are thus open to accepting papers that address cases in Asia, or cases elsewhere in the world with strong connections to Asia or Asian cultures. We are particularly looking for papers that are historically-informed, but help to understand and contextualize the current crisis; that work against anthropocentric bias by valuing animal survival and health in its own right; that highlight connections or disruptions in use or scale between pre-modern and modern uses of animals as medicines; that discuss how Asian faunal medicalization practices have affected species and practices across or outside Asian nation-states; and/or that explore junctions between wildlife conservation, animal medicines, and consumerism.

WORKSHOP CONVENORS

Dr Liz P.Y. Chee | Senior Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute, NUS
Dr Kathryn Muyskens | Research Fellow, Asia Research Institute, NUS
A/P Gregory Clancey | Associate Professor, Department of History and Asia Research Institute, NUS

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chee, Liz P.Y. (2021). Mao’s Bestiary: Medicinal Animals and Modern China (Durham, NC: Duke University Press)
Kloos, Stefan and Calum Blaikie, eds, (2022). Asian Medical Industries: Contemporary Perspectives on Traditional Pharmaceuticals (London: Routledge)
Pordie, Laurent and Anita Hardon (2015). “Drugs’ Stories and Itineraries: On the Making of Asian Industrial Medicines”, Anthropology and Medicine 22 (1): 1-6
Still, J. (2003). Use of Animal Products in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Environmental Impact and Health Hazards. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 11, 118–122.
Symes, William S., David P. Edwards, Jukka Miettinen, Frank E. Rheindt, and L. Roman Carrasco (2018a) Combined Impacts of Deforestation and Wildlife Trade on Tropical Biodiversity are Severely Underestimated. Nature Communications 9 (4052)
Symes, William S., Francesca L. McGrath, Madhu Rao, and L. Roman Carrasco (2018b) The Gravity of Wildlife Trade. Biological Conservation 218: 268-276
Van Uhm, Dann (2016) The Illegal Wildlife Trade: Inside the World of Poachers, Smugglers and Traders (Studies of Organized Crime) (New York: Springer)

PARTICIPATION

Registration is closed, and instructions on how to participate in this closed-door hybrid workshop have been sent out to registered attendees. Please write to valerie.yeo@nus.edu.sg if you would like to attend the event.