Stöckelová Tereza, Trnka Susanna
Institute of Sociology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
Anthropology Programme, School of Social Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Anthropol Med. 2020 Mar;27(1):80-95. doi: 10.1080/13648470.2019.1601454. Epub 2019 Aug 2.
Since the concept of 'local biologies' was proposed in the 1990s, it has been used to examine biosocial processes that transform human bodies in similar and different ways around the globe. This paper explores understandings of biosocial differentiation and convergence in the case of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the Czech Republic. Specifically, it examines how Czech TCM practitioners view TCM as universally applicable while fine-tuning it to situated biosocial conditions, experimenting with the compatibilities of various human and plant bodies as part of their generalised, clinical practice. Drawing upon ethnographic research among TCM practitioners in the Czech Republic, it suggests that in addition to the individualization of TCM therapeutics to suit particular patients, Czech TCM is characterised by collective particularization, shaped by local concerns over ethnic, environmental and cultural differences. By looking critically at TCM practitioners' sensitivities to localised biological similarities and differences it aims to contribute to understandings of the expansion of TCM in Central Europe, as well as more broadly to current social science debates over the risks and opportunities inherent in abandoning the assumption of a universal human body and biology.
自20世纪90年代“地方生物学”概念被提出以来，它一直被用于研究在全球范围内以相似和不同方式改变人体的生物社会过程。本文探讨了捷克共和国中医案例中对生物社会差异与趋同的理解。具体而言，它考察了捷克中医从业者如何将中医视为普遍适用的，同时又根据当地的生物社会状况对其进行微调，作为其一般临床实践的一部分，试验各种人体与植物身体的兼容性。基于对捷克共和国中医从业者的人种志研究，研究表明，除了使中医疗法个体化以适应特定患者外，捷克中医的特点还在于集体特殊化，这是由当地对种族、环境和文化差异的关注所塑造的。通过批判性地审视中医从业者对局部生物异同的敏感性，本文旨在促进对中医在中欧扩张的理解，并更广泛地为当前社会科学关于摒弃普遍人体和生物学假设所固有的风险与机遇的辩论做出贡献。
