The migrant's backpack: Unveiling the recourse to traditional medicine amongst Senegalese diaspora in Brescia (Northern Italy)

The north of Italy, particularly the Lombardy region is the county’s industrial hub. It is also the region which hosts most West African migrants, especially Senegalese. More than 21.000 Senegalese are living in the Lombardy region. They are spread between cities such as Milan, Bergamo and Brescia where their cultural and social activities link Senegal to Italy. In Brescia, one the most important cities where Senegalese have been living since the early 1980s, they passed from marginalized immigrants to entrepreneurs. Although they are living in a country where biomedicine is said to be inclusive, they use traditional medicine through herbalism, divination and spiritualism. The migrant’s backpack (this thesis) would like to uncover the contents of Senegalese luggage to find items related to traditional medicine. It gives an overview of the healthcare system in Brescia to understand its openness or closeness depending on the status of a migrant (legal/illegal). It also examines the...Show moreThe north of Italy, particularly the Lombardy region is the county’s industrial hub. It is also the region which hosts most West African migrants, especially Senegalese. More than 21.000 Senegalese are living in the Lombardy region. They are spread between cities such as Milan, Bergamo and Brescia where their cultural and social activities link Senegal to Italy. In Brescia, one the most important cities where Senegalese have been living since the early 1980s, they passed from marginalized immigrants to entrepreneurs. Although they are living in a country where biomedicine is said to be inclusive, they use traditional medicine through herbalism, divination and spiritualism. The migrant’s backpack (this thesis) would like to uncover the contents of Senegalese luggage to find items related to traditional medicine. It gives an overview of the healthcare system in Brescia to understand its openness or closeness depending on the status of a migrant (legal/illegal). It also examines the cultural perceptions of health through the presence of traditional items in Senegalese daily life before delving into the use of traditional medicine through its three branches. Additionally, this thesis retraces the laborious course of those items between Senegal and Italy. In a transnational context, their recourse to traditional medicine lets appear a complex system which involves different actors. The transnational traditional health system which puts three entities into play, senders, transmitters and receivers, is analysed in this work.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

The migrant's backpack: Unveiling the recourse to traditional medicine amongst Senegalese diaspora in Brescia (Northern Italy)