Mass fainting in garment factories in Cambodia

被引:11
|
作者
Eisenbruch, Maurice [1 ]
机构
[1] Monash Univ, Dept Psychiat, Sch Clin Sci, Monash Hlth, Caulfield, Vic 3145, Australia
基金
澳大利亚研究理事会;
关键词
contagion; Khmer Rouge; mass fainting; mass psychogenic illness; spirit possession; wind overload; PSYCHOGENIC ILLNESS; SPIRIT POSSESSION; EPIDEMIC; HYSTERIA; SYMPTOMS; THAILAND; TRAUMA; GHOSTS; FEAR;
D O I
10.1177/1363461517703918
中图分类号
Q98 [人类学];
学科分类号
030303 ;
摘要
This paper reports an ethnographic study of mass fainting among garment factory workers in Cambodia. Research was undertaken in 2010-2015 in 48 factories in Phnom Penh and 8 provinces. Data were collected in Khmer using nonprobability sampling. In participant observation with monks, factory managers, health workers, and affected women, cultural understandings were explored. One or more episodes of mass fainting occurred at 34 factories, of which 9 were triggered by spirit possession. Informants viewed the causes in the domains of ill-health/toxins and supernatural activities. These included haunting ghosts at factory sites in the wake of Khmer Rouge atrocities or recent fatal accidents and retaliating guardian spirits at sites violated by foreign owners. Prefigurative dreams, industrial accidents, or possession of a coworker heralded the episodes. Workers witnessing a coworker fainting felt afraid and fainted. When taken to clinics, some showed signs of continued spirit influence. Afterwards, monks performed ritual ceremonies to appease spirits, extinguish bonds with ghosts, and prevent recurrence. Decoded through its cultural motifs of fear and protest, contagion, forebodings, the bloody Khmer Rouge legacy, and trespass, mass fainting in Cambodia becomes less enigmatic.
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页码:155 / 178
页数:24
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