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

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Therapeutic mobilities
• medicinal plants
• translocality
• medical pluralism
• migration
• diaspora
• Hmong
• Laos
• United States

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Jean-Marc Dubost for the fieldwork conducted together in Laos. This work was supported by the UMR 208 Paloc, by the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD) and by the French National Research Agency (ANR Project ID: ANR-07-SUDS-0001). We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers who gave comments on the previous draft, as well as Pascal Herbelot and Lara Rivard for their inputs and reviews.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Lao Post Office data was gathered by the author in multiple post offices in Laos, as elaborated also in the Method section of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the UMR 208 Paloc, by the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD) and by the French National Research Agency [ANR Project ID: ANR-07-SUDS-0001].