The Economies of Health in Western Buddhism: A Case Study of a Tibetan Buddhist Group in France

Abstract

Based on ethnographic data and a textual analysis, this chapter highlights the process of “therapization” of Buddhism in Western countries, with a specific emphasis on Tibetan Buddhism in France. Referring to the paradigm of “political economy of health”, as developed in recent medical anthropology, it attempts to explore the relationships between two concepts – economics and health – that had previously been considered separately, in the context of Western Buddhism. Further, this chapter's aim is to expose a potential application of theoretical economic models in an anthropological approach of Buddhist diffusion and appropriation in the West.

Citation

Obadia, L. (2007), "The Economies of Health in Western Buddhism: A Case Study of a Tibetan Buddhist Group in France", Wood, D.C. (Ed.) The Economics of Health and Wellness: Anthropological Perspectives (Research in Economic Anthropology, Vol. 26), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 227-259. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0190-1281(07)26010-X