Description
Book SynopsisThis new book tells the story of Miguel Perdomo Niera, a healer whose amazing cures during his travels through the northern Andes in the 1860s and 1870s evoked both enormous hostility and widespread adulation. A combination of narrative and analysis, the book documents Perdomo''s experiences in Colombia and Ecuador and offers valuable insights into the social history of medicine during the Great Transformation in nineteenth-century Latin America. Reactions to Perdomo also illuminate the conflicts between colonial and modern and between religious and secular belief systems in Latin America during this time. This era pitted the norms of colonial Latin America against forces of change that shaped contemporary Latin America. Perdomo''s practice of medicine demonstrated a strong religious influence that liberals thought were incompatible with a modern, secular society. Seldom have the contentions surrounding competitive medical systems been so starkly illuminated as in the case of Perdomo.
Trade ReviewThe Tale of Healer Miguel Perdomo Neira sheds new light on a largely ignored aspect of Latin American society and culture in the nineteenth century. Through the career of Miguel Perdomo, a popular healer in Colombia and Ecuador, circa 1860–1874, David Sowell illuminates the conflict between faith-based empiric healing, as represented by Perdomo, and official, elite-controlled, secular, scientific medicine, as championed by academically trained physicians. Sowell frames this conflict with a concise historical sketch of earlier European and Andean medical systems. He also makes clear its cultural, social, and political dimensions. -- Frank Safford, Northwestern University
This historical study of healer Miguel Perdomo Neira offers profound insights into the evolution of pluralistic systems-not just in the medical realm but also within Latin American culture more generally. David Sowell's research uncovers how a riot generated by Miguel Perdomo's presence in Bogotá became the basis of inventive analysis of the relationship between biomedicine and 'other' or 'alternative' medical systems. Free health care is always political, as Sowell demonstrates. This beautifully written study successfully integrates the political dimension and the struggle for professional dominance into an analysis of healing practice. -- Setha Low, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
A fascinating story. . . . This book significantly broadens our understanding of the contested meanings of science, religion, sickness, and disease in modern Latin America. -- Alexandra Minn Stern, University of California, Santa Cruz
This is essential reading not only for students of the history of medicine but also for anyone interested in the conflictual process of modernization in nineteenth-century Latin America. -- Ann Zulawski, Smith College
Recommended as a rare look into the appeal and practices of social medicine in the nineteenth century. * H-Latam, H-Net Book Reviews *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Healers and Medical Systems in Andean America Chapter 3 "Science . . . Which Is the Truth" Chapter 4 The Life and Times of Miguel Perdomo Neira Chapter 5 The Emergence of Medical Pluralism Chapter 6 Appendix: Testimonials on the Healings of Miguel Perdomo Neira Chapter 7 Notes Chapter 8 Bibliography Chapter 9 Index
