Transcultural and Transnational Transfer of 35 Therapeutic Practice: Healing Cooperation of Spiritism, Biomedicine, and Psychiatry in Brazil and Germany

Healing Cooperation of Spiritism, Biomedicine, and Psychiatry in Brazil and Germany

Abstract

This article investigates transformation processes of local practices ofhealing cooperation when transferred from one context into another by means of migration and transnational networks. Healing practices within Brazilian Spiritism and practices of healing cooperation with psychiatric and biomedical health professionals will serve as an example. An introductory anthropological discussion of distinct theoretical approaches to healing co- operation will serve as a starting point, before exploring explanatory models of health, illness, and healing within Brazilian Spiritism. Case studies from Marília/São Paulo and Itabuna/Bahia in Brazil will facilitate the understanding of healing cooperation of Spiritism, biomedicine, and psychiatry. In a further step, the implementation of Spiritist healing practices by Brazilian immigrants and local supporters in Germany will be of central interest. Case studies from Munich/Germany will show that transference of healing cooperation from one context to the other is possible, but that due to different contexts a diversification of discourses and practices will take place. However, the discussion of the presented data will show, that the outcome of transnational transfers of healing practices and models of healing cooperation does not so much relate to social, cultural, or religious frameworks, but to individual resources, personal expectations, and political processes.