Religion, Spirituality and Public Health : Competing and Complementary Epistemes

Religious beliefs, worldviews and theories of knowledge vividly intersected with public health during the Covid-19 pandemic and continue to shape the post-Covid healthcare landscape. The book focuses on exploring the role of different ‘ways of knowing’ or arriving at truth, i.e. epistemes, particularly those found in religious and alternative health milieus. While biomedical solutions offer a dominant narrative, these are articulated differently in global contexts. Moreover, individuals often draw upon alternative framings that are sometimes oppositional to and at other times engaged with directives from medical and governmental authorities. The focus is on worldviews and epistemes that are often marginalized or rejected in dominant discourses – from shamanism in Korea to African Pentecostalism in Britain, from global online ‘AntiVax’ narratives to traditional Siddha medicine in South India. Detailed case studies explore the contested, competing and strategically aligned relationships between mainstream and marginal epistemes; between religious healing, spirituality and biomedicine; and between politics and belief. These explorations promote greater insight into how marginalised religious epistemes were employed. Which beliefs and practices were drawn upon to create a meaningful and effective responses? How can we better understand the depth and breadth of these reactions to design more successful public health strategies for future global health crises?