IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rmobxx/v14y2019i1p54-70.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Intertwined therapeutic mobilities: knowledge, plants, healers on the move between Laos and the U.S

Author

Listed:
  • Audrey Bochaton

Abstract

We investigate the notion of therapeutic mobilities through the case study of transnational health care practices and medicinal flows within the Hmong diaspora between Laos and the U.S. Drawing upon narratives of traditional healers, pickers, and plant sellers, as well as a collection of postal registers, we highlight how therapeutic mobilities follow the routes of migration and organize the practices of healing among Hmong in receiving countries, particularly in the U.S. Through the different and multidirectional aspects of therapeutic mobilities, we illustrate how transnational healing touches upon questions of cultural identity within the Hmong diaspora. Therapeutic mobilities not only involve border-crossing, they also strengthen existing bonds within the Hmong diaspora. Similarly, herbal treatments not only achieve a therapeutic function, they also represent a range of meanings and values for patients. We explore the fabric of therapeutic mobilities through the prism of translocality and medical pluralism.

Suggested Citation

  • Audrey Bochaton, 2019. "Intertwined therapeutic mobilities: knowledge, plants, healers on the move between Laos and the U.S," Mobilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 54-70, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rmobxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:54-70
    DOI: 10.1080/17450101.2018.1522878
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/17450101.2018.1522878
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/17450101.2018.1522878?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Laura Kemppainen & Veera Koskinen & Harley Bergroth & Eetu Marttila & Teemu Kemppainen, 2021. "Health and Wellness–Related Travel: A Scoping Study of the Literature in 2010-2018," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.
    2. Park, Hyanggi, 2022. "Can imaginary mobilities be conducive to mental health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rmobxx:v:14:y:2019:i:1:p:54-70. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rmob20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.