Humanitarianism from Below: Sowa Rigpa, the Traditional Pharmaceutical Industry, and Global Health

Abstract

In this article I explore, for the first time, the relationship between Sowa Rigpa (Tibetan medicine) and global health, tracing "the global" in ethical discourses and pharmaceutical innovation practices of Tibetan medical practitioners. I argue that Sowa Rigpa's engagement with the world and its global health activities outside China can be understood as a form of "humanitarianism from below," while its industrialization in China aligns with global health in different ways. In providing new insights into recent developments of Sowa Rigpa, I aim to decenter the notion of humanitarianism and contribute to a broader understanding of global health.

Sowa Rigpa Humanitarianism: Local Logics of Care within a Global Politics of Compassion

“…Our case studies show how caregiving invokes moral sentiments related to fighting for recognition or political status, expanding economies, and uniting communities. Here, we agree with Kloos's (, 4) insight that “exile Tibetans are keenly aware of not only the moral, but also the political and economic capital to be earned by helping others.” The doctor–patient exchanges in Cases 1 and 3 explicitly refer to compassion and service, while Case 2 links charity with political activism for a “Free Tibet,” emphasizing the physician's Buddhist stance toward compassion. Thus, Sowa Rigpa pharmaceutical encounters become charitable in the ways that organizations position and present themselves in these camps.…”

“…We show how Sowa Rigpa humanitarianism echoes and departs from other forms of humanitarianism, including aid workers’ motivations for such work (e.g., Malkki ). Our case studies challenge theoretical frameworks of a global “politics of compassion” (Kloos ; Xu ), instead emphasizing how moral economies, ordinary ethics, and routine therapeutic encounters reconfigure a politics of compassion on‐the‐ground.…”

“…Indian patients neither know about the Tibetan medical contexts nor Buddhism; they are concerned with getting medicines.” That said, Buddhism guides the overall image of MTK's charitable activities, especially camps adjunct to Dalai Lama teachings. These underline the Dalai Lama's strategy of promoting Sowa Rigpa: “The more benefit and service Tibetan medicine renders to humanity, the more it is of service to Tibetan culture” (Kloos , 3).…”

“…A core dynamic in these medical camps is particularizing Tibetan identity and history through a subaltern politics of compassion, where stateless refugees set out to “help the world” from an unprivileged position (Kloos ). The humanitarian tendency to moralize (Ticktin ) in Sowa Rigpa medical camps locally emerges through the linking of caregiving with Buddhist narratives of service and compassion.…”

“…Kloos argues that Sowa Rigpa's Mahayana Buddhist ethical claim to “benefit all sentient beings” is an enduring theme between Tibet's economic and political past and present; in exile, this claim came to include benefiting “the world” in a global, cosmopolitan sense. This reframing of Tibetan culture as consubstantial with Mahayana Buddhist ethics of altruism and compassion “enabled the portrayal of Tibetan culture in terms of a threatened common good worthy of the world's protection and support” (Kloos , 3). Tibetan culture was not only threatened, it also had something to offer: Sowa Rigpa.…”