The Spirit Ambulance Choreographing the End of Life in Thailand |
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| Author:
| Stonington, Scott |
| Series title: | California Series in Public Anthropology Ser. |
| ISBN: | 978-0-520-34389-4 |
| Publication Date: | Aug 2020 |
| Publisher: | University of California Press
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| Book Format: | Hardback |
| List Price: | USD $95.00 |
Book Description:
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The Spirit Ambulance is a journey into decision-making at the end of life in Thailand, where families attempt to craft good deaths for their elders in the face of clashing ethical frameworks, from a rapidly developing universal medical system, to national and global human-rights politics, to contemporary movements in Buddhist metaphysics. Scott Stonington's gripping ethnography documents how Thai families attempt to pay back a "debt of life" to their elders through intensive...
More Description The Spirit Ambulance is a journey into decision-making at the end of life in Thailand, where families attempt to craft good deaths for their elders in the face of clashing ethical frameworks, from a rapidly developing universal medical system, to national and global human-rights politics, to contemporary movements in Buddhist metaphysics. Scott Stonington's gripping ethnography documents how Thai families attempt to pay back a "debt of life" to their elders through intensive medical care, followed by a medically assisted rush from the hospital to home to ensure a spiritually advantageous last breath. The result is a powerful exploration of the nature of death and the complexities arising from the globalization of biomedical expertise and ethics around the world.