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Dr Loretta Lou's Outputs (15)

Nationalism and the Legitimacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Macau: Colonial Legacy and Contemporary Imaginaries (2025)
Book Chapter
Lou, L. I. T. (2025). Nationalism and the Legitimacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Macau: Colonial Legacy and Contemporary Imaginaries. In I. Gaitanidis, L. F. B. Junqueira, A. Morrow, & S.-Y. Han (Eds.), Therapy, Spirituality, and East Asian Imaginaries (277-298). Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.25136991.21

This chapter explores how colonial legacy and the transition of sovereignty influenced the legitimacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in Macau. Contrary to previous research suggesting that the legitimacy of TCM hinges on the creation of miracl... Read More about Nationalism and the Legitimacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Macau: Colonial Legacy and Contemporary Imaginaries.

Healing Nature: Spiritual Ecology, Self-Cultivation, and Social Transformation in Hong Kong (2023)
Journal Article
Lou, L. I. T. (2023). Healing Nature: Spiritual Ecology, Self-Cultivation, and Social Transformation in Hong Kong. Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, Ecology, 27, 189–209. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685357-02703004

This paper provides the first ethnographic study of spiritual ecology in contemporary Hong Kong. In exploring the life stories of people who wanted to "heal" nature as well as those who were being "healed" by nature through the practice of green livi... Read More about Healing Nature: Spiritual Ecology, Self-Cultivation, and Social Transformation in Hong Kong.

Preservation by Demolition: Toxic Heritage in Contemporary China (2023)
Book Chapter
Lou, L. I. (2023). Preservation by Demolition: Toxic Heritage in Contemporary China. In E. Kryder-Reid, & S. May (Eds.), Toxic Heritage: Legacies, Futures, and Environmental Injustice (174-198). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003365259-20

This chapter explores how residents in a Chinese neighbourhood bargained with their “toxic heritage.” Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between the spring and autumn of 2018, the chapter details how the villagers of Samtilwei, a periurban nei... Read More about Preservation by Demolition: Toxic Heritage in Contemporary China.

The art of unnoticing: Risk perception and contrived ignorance in China (2022)
Journal Article
Lou, L. I. T. (2022). The art of unnoticing: Risk perception and contrived ignorance in China. American Ethnologist, 49(4), 580-594. https://doi.org/10.1111/amet.13099

In China many petrochemical plants are adjacent to residential areas. Despite this, the people who live in these areas appear indifferent to the threat of toxic pollution and chemical explosions, even though they are aware of the danger. Building on... Read More about The art of unnoticing: Risk perception and contrived ignorance in China.

Freedom as ethical practices: on the possibility of freedom through freeganism and freecycling in Hong Kong (2019)
Journal Article
Lou, L. I. T. (2019). Freedom as ethical practices: on the possibility of freedom through freeganism and freecycling in Hong Kong. Asian Anthropology, 18(4), 249-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/1683478x.2019.1633728

Although the idea of freedom has been well studied as an ideal in political philosophy, relatively little scholarship has focused on the human experience of freedom. Drawing on ethnographic research between 2012 and 2013, I examine how freedom was ac... Read More about Freedom as ethical practices: on the possibility of freedom through freeganism and freecycling in Hong Kong.