Graduate student Chithprabha Kudlu, supervised by Dr. Glenn Davis Stone, will study the commodification of Ayurveda, an ancient medicine system of India, focusing on changes in knowledge and information control. The research will be conducted in the State of Kerala, which has recently become a main hub for international Ayurvedic tourism. The researcher will follow plant commodities from collection to consumption, recording information on the roles different actors play in converting raw plants into a medicine commodities.
The research design includes tracking seven index plants, selected in preliminary study, as the plants move from their natural state to consumed medicine. At the same time, the researcher will collect ethnographic information about the central players at each commodity chain level: farmers and collectors; raw-drug dealers and agents; wholesale herb dealers; drug manufacturers; retail drug stores; medical practioner clinics and tourist spas; and consumers. At each level, she will collect information on participant contributions of knowledge and labor, and the social and economic returns they receive. Data collection methods include surveys, interviews, and participant observation.
This research is important because it will shed light on the effects of increasing standardization on the power struggles between formal and informal streams of knowledge. The study also will contribute to social science understanding of how commodity chains based on traditional knowledge are affected by contemporary ideas of intellectual property and medical tourism. Furthermore, because many of the plants being sold in this way are found in a recognized Bio-Diversity Hotspot, the research will contribute information need for effective environmental conservation. Finally, this award will support research by a graduate student and thus contribute to science education.
