Seeking Healing in Brazil. John of God, Biomedicine and Anti-Vaccine Cultures

Seminar organized by Cristina Rocha (Western Sydney University, Paris Institute for Advanced Study), with the participation of Clara Saraiva (ICS-ULisboa), with the support of the University of Lisbon and of the Foundation for Science and Technology FCT

This intervention is part of the seminar cycle of the research group "Identities culture and vulnerabilities" of the Social Sciences institute of the University of Lisbon.

Presentation

In this presentation, Cristina Rocha revisit her ethnographic work on the appeal of the Brazilian faith healer John of God to Westerners. She is interested in how narratives of bodily healing as spiritual development become a path for self-empowerment and a rejection of biomedicine. She argues that an understanding of the appeal of alternative medicine can help us make sense of why denialist beliefs about vaccination and COVID-19 have become so intractable.

Practical informations

Discussion online. To join the debate follow the link.