Dr. Shagufta Bhangu (Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, King’s College London)
“Ontologies of Pain: Chronicity and Desire in Biomedical Frames”
Date and Time: Thursday, November 2, 2023 12:30pm-2:00pm, followed by a light lunch in the ANSO Lino Lounge
Location: Anthropology & Sociology Building (ANSO) Room 134, 6303 NW Marine Drive
Abstract:
Is pain desirable? Even when the question is posed rhetorically or answered in the negative, its very posing and persistence across settings demonstrates a frame of analysis of pain which begins first and foremost with viewing pain through a utilitarian lens. The question is linked with another question, what role does pain play and what function does it serve? Based on long term ethnographic engagement with pain’s traces in different clinical settings in India, Dr. Bhangu will discuss different the statuses of pain and its intersections with biomedical desires.
