We are happy to share that U-M Program in International and Comparative Studies and CSEAS faculty member, Dr. Scott Stonington will release his new book, The Spirit Ambulance: Choreographing the End of Life in Thailand, on August 25, 2020.

The Spirit Ambulance is a journey into decision-making at the end of life in Thailand, where families attempt to craft good deaths for their elders in the face of clashing ethical frameworks, from a rapidly developing universal medical system, to national and global human-rights politics, to contemporary movements in Buddhist metaphysics. Scott Stonington’s gripping ethnography documents how Thai families attempt to pay back a “debt of life” to their elders through intensive medical care, followed by a medically assisted rush from the hospital to home to ensure a spiritually advantageous last breath. The result is a powerful exploration of the nature of death and the complexities arising from the globalization of biomedical expertise and ethics around the world.

Stonington’s new book is a great read for anyone interested in the global dynamics of healthcare and biomedicine, globalization, rapidly expanding technology, comparing cultures and systems of meaning, and the way global forces act upon the lives of individuals worldwide.

For more information and to order, visit: https://bit.ly/32hN3cw.

Scott Stonington, MD, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Anthropology, International Studies, and Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan.