{"product_id":"african-pharmakon-the-asylum-as-shrine-from-slavery-to-the-return-paperback","title":"African Pharmakon: The Asylum as Shrine from Slavery to the Return - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNana Osei Quarshie\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eExplores how psychiatry in Ghana was never just about medicine; it was about migration, exile, and the politics of who gets to stay and who must be cast out.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e For centuries, mental distress in West Africa has been subject to a mix of healing, harming, ritual, and regulation. In \u003ci\u003eAfrican Pharmakon\u003c\/i\u003e, Nana Osei Quarshie questions conventional narratives about colonial psychiatry. Instead of displacing African therapeutic traditions, he argues, European psychiatric institutions in fact built upon them, adapting long-standing techniques of social control and healing. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With a focus on Ghana, Quarshie explores the shifting landscape of West African mental health practices, tracking their transformation from shrine-based rituals to colonial asylums and modern psychiatric institutions. Combining extensive archival research and ethnographic fieldwork, including the first scholarly examination of patient records from the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Quarshie identifies five enduring techniques that have shaped the treatment of mental distress: spiritual pawning, logging, manhunting, mass expulsion, and pharmacotherapy. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Rejecting the simplistic opposition of Indigenous healing versus colonial oppression, \u003ci\u003eAfrican Pharmakon \u003c\/i\u003eprovides a nuanced account of how psychiatric care in Ghana became a tool of empowerment as well as exclusion. This pioneering study reframes our understanding of psychiatry and mental health governance in West Africa, past and present. \u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNana Osei Quarshie\u003c\/b\u003e is assistant professor in the Program in the History of Science and Medicine at Yale University, with affiliations in the Departments of Anthropology and Religious Studies and the Yale School of Medicine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 336\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 8.94 x 6.14 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e December 30, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978228891949,"sku":"9780226839189","price":46.03,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/F-l1QNEKMx9780226839189.webp?v=1775801143","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/african-pharmakon-the-asylum-as-shrine-from-slavery-to-the-return-paperback","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}