In this episode, we have Prof. Zhang Chaoxiong, who has recently joined the Anthropology Department, CUHK, shares her experience of switching from the discipline of biology to cultural anthropology, as well as her PhD research on the moral experience of drug users in Southwest China. In the context of China’s “People’s War on Drugs”, Chaoxiong discusses the politics and ethics of drug addiction treatment, and the meaning of “re-becoming human” for drug users and the social world around them. Also, she talks about her recent research on ecological restoration and the biocultural diversity of he (glutinous rice) in southwest China.

(This episode is conducted in Putonghua.)

00’40 Switching from biology to anthropology

07’52 Research on drug use in Southwest China

16’55 Is drug use a medical or moral issue?

40’40 Drug addiction treatment and policy in China

56’20 Recent research on he (glutinous rice) in southwest China