ABSTRACT
The first part of the introduction describes the unprecedented expansion of Asian medicines over the last 20 years, and highlights its causes and effects. In particular, it points out how the expansion of the market in Asian medicines has contributed to the inscription of these products within a large system of governance, greatly dominated by global actors and the biomedical hegemony. And yet, it is stressed, local actors still play a major role in reshaping the regulations and their implementation - thus complexifying the trajectory of the remedies and their natures. In its second half, the introduction details the contribution the book makes to the literature. The main novelty consists of the examination of the plurality of actors involved in governance and circulation, and in analyzing the converging or conflicting logics actors follow, particularly the negotiations and tensions that arise, which induce a transformation of the medicines in terms of content, names, efficacy, quality, accessibility, and symbolic power. Thanks to the multiplicity of approaches - contributors differ in the country, the medicine, the level of governance, and the circulation they examine - the different chapters bring a multi-layered contribution to the study of governance and circulation of Asian medicines, offering further proof of their fluidity and resilience.
