At the Limits of Cure

Can a history of cure be more than a history of how disease comes to an end? In 1950s Madras, an international team of researchers demonstrated that antibiotics were effective in treating tuberculosis. But just half a century later, reports out of Mumbai stoked fears about the spread of totally drug-resistant strains of the disease. Had the curable become incurable? Through an anthropological history of tuberculosis treatment in India, Bharat Jayram Venkat examines what it means to be cured, and what it means for a cure to come undone. At the Limits of Cure tells a story that stretches from the colonial period—a time of sanatoria, travel cures, and gold therapy—into a postcolonial present marked by antibiotic miracles and their failures. Venkat juxtaposes the unraveling of cure across a variety of sites: in idyllic hill stations and crowded prisons, aboard ships and on the battlefield, and through research trials and clinical encounters. If cure is frequently taken as an ending (of illness, treatment, and suffering more generally), Venkat provides a foundation for imagining cure otherwise in a world of fading antibiotic efficacy.

A Preliminary Study on the Javanese Folklore as a Disaster Mitigation Strategy

Generally, people assume that Javanese Folklor is commonly dominated by myths. In fact, some of Javanese Folklor contains numerous knowledge of local wisdom on disaster mitigation. Nowadays, disaster mitigation is proceeded only based on scientific knowledge and technology. Meanwhile, there are some cultural knowledges on disaster mitigation which are mostly forgotten and scarcely applied. People will assume that the knowledge is just a myth and should be ignored. Therefore, this study reveals the Javanese traditional knowledge for disaster mitigation through identification of folklores. Using anthropological history approach, this study reveals hidden values in every occasion from Javanese folklores such as the story of Timun Mas, Rawa Pening, and Nyi Roro Kidul. Timun Mas provides an information regarding to reclamation of ex-mining land for mud volcano disaster, Rawa Pening gives a lesson on how to keep lake area clean to prevent from flooding, while Nyi Roro kidul teaches us to developing mangrove forest from tsunami. Thus, this study offers values about traditional knowledge on disaster mitigation that can be contextualized in the present-day effort as survival strategy in a disaster.

It is about time: Birthdays as modern rites of temporality

What do birthdays mean? Why are they so obligatory for modern people? Based on neo-Durkheimian perspectives on ritual, this article suggests the anthropological history of the western birthday as a key to understand its meaning. The article points at the unique ritual system developed by modern industrial culture, such as birthdays, jubilees, and other anniversaries—designated here as Rites of Temporality—which latch on to the numerical milestones marking the passage of time to which the celebrant (individual, institution, settlement, state, and so forth) is subject. Comparing the birthday with classical rites of initiation then reveals how over and above individualism, consumer culture, state bureaucracy, and historical consciousness, the birthday honors time’s most noticeable markers since the industrial era—numbers—thus objectifying conventionalized time as a central meaning maker for modern people.

Book review: Giulia Battaglia, Documentary Film in India: An Anthropological History

Giulia Battaglia, Documentary Film in India: An Anthropological History. London and New York, NY: Routledge, 2018, 248 pp., $82.25. ISBN: 978–1–13855173–2.

Alpha-Thalassemia in North Morocco: Prevalence and Molecular Spectrum

Unlike the other hemoglobinopathies, few researches have been published concerningα-thalassemia in Morocco. The epidemiological features and the mutation spectrum of this disease are still unknown. This regional newborn screening is the first to studyα-thalassemia in the north of Morocco. During the period from January 2015 to December 2016, 1658 newborns umbilical blood samples were investigated. Suspected newborns were screened forα-globin defects using Gap-PCR and Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification technique. The prevalence ofα-thalassemia, its mutation spectrum, and its allelic frequencies were described for the first time in Morocco. Six differentα-globin genetic disorders were detected in 16 neonates. This screening valued the prevalence ofα-thalassemia in the studied population at 0.96% and showed the wide mutation spectrum and the heterogeneous geographical distribution of the disease. A high rate of carriers was observed in Laouamra, a rural commune in Larache province. Heterogeneity ofα-globin alleles in Morocco explains the high variability ofα-thalassemia severity. This diversity reflects the anthropological history of the country. These results would contribute to the prevention of thalassemia in Morocco directing the design of a nationwide screening strategy and awareness campaign.

Arab Keturunan di Indonesia; Tinjauan Sosio-Historis tentang Arab Keturunan dan Perannya dalam Kehidupan Masyarakat Indonesia

The role of Arabic-Indonesian community in Islamic da 'wah in Indonesia is quite important. However, there are few studies of their role that have been conducted It is for this reason that the writer would like to observe the role and the existence of this community from the social-historical perspective. There are two theories in understanding their relationship with indigenous people. The first is identical theory which perceives that historically Islam is identical with Arab and therefore cannot be separated from Arabic people. The second theory is that the arrival and the development of Arabic community in Indonesia, on the perspective of anthropological history, is closely related to the history of conversion to Islam and the development of Islam in society. The writer tries to observe their social life and their active role in the development of Indonesian society.