Anna Winterbottom - ‘Becoming Traditional’: A Transnational History of Neem and Biopiracy Discourses

Dr. Anna Winterbottom (McGill) discusses her forthcoming journal article, ‘”Becoming traditional”: A transnational history of neem and biopiracy discourses,’ which is due to be published in 2021 in Osiris. The article is part of a special issue entitled ‘Global medical cultures, properties and laws,’ and explores the shifting uses and cultural meanings of neem, a tree of the mahogany family native to South and Southeast Asia, over time and space. Specifically, the article and the podcast discussion examine how neem became associated with the idea of ‘traditional’ Indian medicine as Western medical companies sought patents on neem derivatives in the 1990s.

For the article, see: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/713897

For more on Dr. Winterbottom’s work, see: https://indianoceanworldcentre.com/research_affiliates/anna-winterbottom/

Also, please check out Dr. Winterbottom’s seminal monograph: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9781137380203

This podcast was produced with the help of Renée Manderville (Project Manager, IOWC), Philip Gooding, and Archisman Chaudhuri (both postdoctoral fellows, IOWC, McGill).