Power, culture and medicine: Ayurvedic pharmaceuticals in the modern market

Abstract

This article seeks to understand the encounter between Ayurveda and the modern market through an analysis of decisions regarding the product profiling, positioning and packaging of Ayurvedic medicines by its leading manufacturer, Dabur. These seemingly mundane, economic decisions are seen here as expressions of a deep operation of power, mediated through culture. The analysis takes us beyond the simplified picture of the rise of modern biomedicine as the inevitable and onward march of rationality, or that of Ayurveda as the helpless victim of modernity. It argues that the multiple strategies adopted by the Ayurvedic pharmaceutical companies, in response to the changing conditions of the market, can be viewed in larger terms as its response to the changing nature of the field of power. This identifies the 'moment of confrontation', the 'moment of withdrawal' and the 'moment of diversion' as some of the strategic responses. While these strategies did succeed in creating and retaining a foothold for Ayurvedic medicines in the modern market, this success came at a heavy cost: Ayurvedic medicine had to be cast in the mould of modern medicine and disconnected from its relationship to the knowledge system. The analysis brings out some of the ironies and dilemmas of this encounter.

In the Presence of Biomedicine: Ayurveda, Medical Integration and Health Seeking in Mysore, South India

“…In order to gain a footing in the modern market, Ayurvedic industry has followed the marketing strategies peculiar to multinational and national pharmaceutical companies (Banerjee 2002). And finally, integration is taking place in terms of incorporation of biomedical solutions, such as instruments, technology and concepts, into non-biomedical routines during the training and practicing of Ayurvedic medicine, for example (see Leslie 1992).…”

“…One would have expected that because of the energetic marketing of mass-produced Ayurvedic medicines and by advertising them through pharmacies and the media, information about Ayurveda would have been more widespread (cf. Banerjee 2002). But possibly because of the advertising, informants were usually able to name one or two Ayurvedic products manufactured by the leading companies, such as Himalaya or Dabur, mentioning that Ayurvedic drugs are not supposed to have side effects.…”

Nature Cure and Non-Communicable Diseases: Ecological Therapy as Health Care in India

“…Another example, with different but equally important dynamics, is the pharmaceutical industry, encompassing biomedicine and, increasingly, other medical systems such as ayurveda , unani and siddha , as well as the wellness industry of herbal tonics and supplements [31]. …”

“…The industrialization of ayurveda , unani , siddha and homeopathy is clearly manifest in the scale and scope of international pharmaceutical companies such as Dabur, Himalaya and Hamdard. To some extent the commercialization of AYUSH systems reflects consumer demand for alternatives to biomedicine, although “demand” is probably generated as much by marketing as anything else [31]. Pharmaceutical companies profit as a consequence of the fact that distress is symptomatic of human biology.…”

Keeping the doctor in the loop: Ayurvedic pharmaceuticals in Kerala

“…As consumers and doctors shifted their allegiance towards prestigious state-sanctioned biomedicine, Ayurvedic manufacturers were forced to move on to greener pastures. Post-1960s, companies such as Dabur that had hitherto focused on distributing classical medicines through clinic-pharmacies, shifted their attention to over-the-counter products (Banerjee 2002). This case is an apt illustration for Appadurai's (1986, 30) contention that 'customary consumption logics of small communities are intimately tied to larger regimes of value defined by large-scale polities'.…”