Bridging ‘Islands Of Medicine’: Balancing medical pluralism on La Isla De Chiloe

Abstract

This thesis brings together the study of islands, anthropology, and postcolonialism; it discusses (1) how global assemblages, such as colonial interactions and neoliberal economies influence individual well-being and local health care ontologies as practice on islands, and (2) the space and place of medical plurality on islands. Ethnographic research took place over four months on Chiloé Island, Chile. The research included interviews with members of the Williche Council of Chief’s health program, medical practitioners in the public health system, and health service employees with the government. An examination of the integration between the Council’s health program and public health care clinics in the archipelago is central to this thesis. This intercultural approach to health care is compared to that of the institutionalization of indigenous medicines within the South Pacific. The relationship among health, economies, and ecosystems on islands, serves as a framework for gaining a different perspective on how medical pluralism occurs on islands