The popularity of Tibetan medicine plays a central role in the international market for alternative medicine and has been increasing and extending far beyond its original cultural area becoming a global phenomenon. This book analyses Tibetan medicine in the 21st century by considering the contemporary reasons that have led to its diversity and by bringing out the common orientations of this medical system. Using case studies that examine of the social, political and identity dynamics of Tibetan medicine in Nepal, India, the PRC, Mongolia, the UK and the US, the contributors to this book answer the following three, fundamental questions:

* What are the modalities and issues involved in the social and therapeutic transformations of Tibetan medicine?
* How are national policies and health reforms connected to the processes of contemporary redefinition of this medicine?
* How does Tibetan medicine fit into the present, globalized context of the medical world?

Written by experts in the field from the US, France, Canada, China and the UK this book will be invaluable to students and scholars interested in contemporary medicine, Tibetan studies, health studies and the anthropology of Asia.

Tibetan Medicine in the Contemporary World, Laurent Pordie, RoutledgeCurzon, Paperback, 267 pp., 2008, $42.95

Laurent Pordi� is Director of the Department of Social Sciences at the French Institute of Pondicherry, India and a Fellow at the Centre de Recherche �Cultures, Sant�, Soci�t�s� (CReCSS), Paul C�zanne University at Aix-Marseille.

Preface Margaret Lock Introduction
1. Tibetan Medicine Today. Neo-Traditionalism as an Analytical Lens and a Political Tool Laurent Pordi�
Part 1: Modern Institutionalization
2. Inventing Tradition: Tibetan Medicine in the Post-Socialist Contexts of China and Mongolia Craig R. Janes and Casey Hilliard
3. Place and Professionalization: Navigating Amchi Identity in Nepal Sienna R. Craig
4. The Diffusion of Tibetan Medicine in China: A Descriptive Panorama Chen Hua

Part 2: Today�s Politics of Knowledge
5. Integration or Erasure?: Modernizing Medicine at Lhasa�s Mentsikhang Vincanne Adams and Fei-Fei Li
6. Hijacking Intellectual Property Rights. Identities and Social Power in the Indian Himalayas Laurent Pordi�
7. Tibetan Medicine and Biodiversity Management in Dolpo, Nepal. Negotiating Local and Global Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices Yildiz Aumeeruddy-Thomas and Yeshi C. Lama

Part 3: Tibetan Medicine and the West
8. The Integration of Tibetan Medicine in the United Kingdom: The Clinics of the Tara Institute of Medicine Colin Millard
9. Tibetan Medicine Revisited in the West. Notes on the Integrative Efforts and Transformative Consequences Occurring in Massachusetts, USA Ivette Vargas
10. An Ancient Medicine in a New World: A Tibetan Medicine Doctor�s Reflection from �Inside� Eliot Tokar Conclusion
11. The Politics of Tibetan Medicine and the Constitution of an Object of Study: Some Comments Geoffrey Samuel