In Mohan Dutta's "The Unheard Voices of Santalis: Communicating about Health from the Margins of India", he raises the observation of how the Santalis believe that disruption of the natural order by supernatural forces leads to disease and the cause of the illness needs to be addressed in more severe cases instead of simply superficially treating the illness with modern medicine. He also makes mention of a participant Shyamda who spoke of stomach ache and blood in his stool and how Shyamda's wife had told him to go get some modern tests done. However, Shyamda speaks about how he does not have the money to get these tests done. And instead of being crippled by this structural constraint, he says he will save up money to get the tests done and that meanwhile, he will take homeopathic medicine that is very much within his financial reach. This reading brought to my mind an occurrence that happened in my life not too long ago. A schoolmate succumbed last year
This blog offers Mohan Dutta's reflections on the theoretical framework of the culture-centered approach, examining the interplays among Structure, Culture, and Agency in shaping marginalisation and the ways in which communities at the margins challenge structures. Writings on the blog are continually being revised to reflect the organic analysis of structure and agency.