Khat, marijuana, peyote-are these dangerous drugs or vilified plants with rich cultural and medical values? In this book, Lisa Gezon brings the drug debate into the 21st century, proposing criteria for evaluating psychotropic substances. Focusing on khat, whose bushy leaves are an increasingly popular stimulant and the target of vehement anti-drug campaigns, she explores biocultural and socioeconomic contexts on local, national, and global levels. Gezon provides a multidisciplinary examination of the plant's direct physical and psychological effects, as well as indirect social and structural effects on income and labor productivity, identity, gendered relationships, global drug discourses, and food security. This sophisticated, multi-leveled analysis cuts through the traditional battle lines of the drug debate and is a model for understanding and evaluating psychotropic substances around the world.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
This ambitious book succeeds effectively in both of its distinctive aims. First, it offers a clear understanding of khat, a shrub with leaves that are chewed for psychoactive effects by limited populations around the world. This account is richly detailed for Madagascar, where khat has been grown for only a few decades, and there are excellent summaries about Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and a few other areas where it has been popular. Secondly, Gezon hews faithfully to her aim to exemplify "critical medical anthropology," an approach that combines meticulous ethnographic description of a local health issue (with full economic, political, and historical context) with an emphasis on relations that involve wealth and power on the global scene. The clearly written and well organized result nicely summarizes the peculiar but impressive ways that this "green gold" (mistakenly presumed by some to be illegal) supports economic development, female entrepreneurship, and ethnic identity without interfering with diet, work, health, or the local ecology. Impressive on both counts. Summing Up: Highly Recommended. All levels/libraries." - D.B. Heath, CHOICE
Reihe
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Illustrationen
black & white illustrations, figures
Maße
Höhe: 229 mm
Breite: 152 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-59874-491-0 (9781598744910)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Lisa L. Gezon is Professor and Chair in the Department of Anthropology, University of West Georgia.
1: Introduction Part I: Consumption, Identity, and Health 2: Patterns of Consumption 3: Leaf of Paradise or Scourge?: Drug Effects, Health and Legalization Part II: Indirect Effects: Production and Trade 4: Growing and Selling Khat 5: Implications for Food Security and Conservation 6: Intimate Livelihoods: Gender and Survival on the Margins Part III: The Silence of Green Gold: Drug Effects in Economies on the Margins 7: Khat on the Global Margins: Wars on Drugs, State Silence, and Alternative Development Drugs on the Global Margins 8: Tying It Together References Index About the Author
