An anthropology of ‘cancer villages’: Villagers' perspectives and the politics of responsibility

TitleAn anthropology of ‘cancer villages’: Villagers' perspectives and the politics of responsibility
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2010
AuthorsLora-Wainwright, Anna
JournalJournal of Contemporary China
Volume19
Issue63
Pagination79-99
Abstract

This paper examines how villagers in rural Sichuan understand the development of cancer, how they attempt to make sense of why it seems widespread and of why it affects particular individuals. Lay aetiologies of cancer such as negative emotions, smoking, consuming alcohol and preserved vegetables are addressed in order to contextualise environmentally related factors, and explain why they may or not be resorted to. With reference to ethnographic examples, I argue that awareness of pollution’s effects on health can only gain strength when it is consonant with locals’ experience and moral parameters and when it is perceived to be productive in attracting media attention and obtaining redress from various
levels of state bureaucracy.

DOI10.1080/10670560903335785
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