[Last modified: October, 8 2024 04:36 PM]
I hope to explore herbalism within London. I plan to use a multi-species anthropological and ethnobotanical lens. I will examine the role of medicinal non-humans (plants, herbs, fungi, and algae) in an urban setting. Specifically, I aim to focus on themes of gender—particularly women’s connections to herbalism and healing—as well as cultural herbalism, looking at different London communities and areas.
I am interested in how this knowledge is passed down through generations, whether living in an urban city like London jeopardizes these traditions, how this knowledge is documented and disseminated, and the varying attitudes toward the plants and other non-humans that possess medicinal properties. I will also explore where the herbs and plants are sourced, how different communities utilize them, and the commodification of medicinal plants.
I am still deciding whether to trace a specific number of plants as they move through the city—examining how different cultures use them and their associated knowledge, as well as where they grow and how they are imported—or to study herbalism as a whole by looking at various herbal shops, herb gardens, apothecaries, and herbal medicine courses. Additionally, I would like to explore the connotations surrounding herbalism, such as how it is perceived as a medicinal practice and how people discuss it.
Methods:
- Interview individuals who practice herbalism or hold particular beliefs about it.
- Visit herbal medicine shops and places that offer herbal medicine courses.
- Interview herbal medicine practitioners.
- Explore herbal medicine gardens within larger parks, small individual plots, or community gardens.
I will categorize my findings by plant or location, such as Elephant and Castle with its more Latin/South American population or Spitalfields with its Bangladeshi community.
Potential Findings:
I expect to find a natural reluctance toward herbalism and its terminology in certain areas. I believe that medicinal or healing plants will be more widely recognized and respected within particular communities. I hope to observe an increase in herbalism and herbal courses in urban areas, alongside a focus on foraging and fostering relationships with green spaces. However, I am curious to see if there is a tendency for herbalism to be co-opted into media and aesthetics, rather than tracing the medicinal plants back to their importance in various cultures and their histories.
This research would provide a new way of understanding the city and the relationships between humans and non-humans.