Religion, Spirituality and Public Health
Competing and Complementary Epistemes
Book •
This edited volume, co-edited by Karen O'Brien-Kop and Suzanne Newcombe, gathers interdisciplinary case studies exploring how religious and alternative ways of knowing interacted with biomedical public health during and after COVID-19.
Contributors examine diverse contexts—African Pentecostalism in Britain, Afro-Brazilian traditions in hospital wards, traditional Siddha medicine in South India, and online anti-vax movements—to show competing, complementary, and strategic alignments of epistemes.
The book argues for taking lived religious epistemologies seriously in policymaking, highlighting processes of truth-making, code-switching, and the pragmatic choices individuals make about healing.
It offers practical recommendations for improved public health engagement with minoritized communities and advocates more inclusive research and consultation practices.
Published open access by the British Academy/Liverpool University Press, it includes conference videos and aims to speak to scholars, policymakers, and public-health practitioners.
Contributors examine diverse contexts—African Pentecostalism in Britain, Afro-Brazilian traditions in hospital wards, traditional Siddha medicine in South India, and online anti-vax movements—to show competing, complementary, and strategic alignments of epistemes.
The book argues for taking lived religious epistemologies seriously in policymaking, highlighting processes of truth-making, code-switching, and the pragmatic choices individuals make about healing.
It offers practical recommendations for improved public health engagement with minoritized communities and advocates more inclusive research and consultation practices.
Published open access by the British Academy/Liverpool University Press, it includes conference videos and aims to speak to scholars, policymakers, and public-health practitioners.
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Mentioned by the hosts and editors as the new open-access edited volume about religious epistemes and public health after COVID.
Karen O'Brien-Kop and Suzanne Newcombe eds., "Religion, Spirituality and Public Health" (British Academy, 2025)
