Science as Project: Scientific Herbal Medicine in Postcolonial Ghana
This talk traces the experiences of students and graduates of a Bachelor of Science program in Herbal Medicine in the West African nation of Ghana to examine the entanglement of the health professions with related social projects. At independence, the medical professions in Ghana were associated with projects to remake social class relations, promote a modern Black identity, and support postcolonial national sovereignty. Since this time, each of these projects has been transformed as the professions have become oriented toward more individualistic aspirations. Focusing on the politics of social class, I examine how students grapple with different visions of social belonging and argue for the continuing importance of independence-era imaginaries in contemporary medicine.
