Supriya Subramani published her book: «Passive Patient Culture in India: Disrespect in Law and Medicine»
Our former Stehr-Boldt Fellow and Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Zurich, Supriya Subramani, has published her book «Passive Patient Culture in India: Disrespect in Law and Medicine». The book is fully open access, supported by a Start-up Faculty Grant from the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney and the Brocher Foundation. And the book launch is happening on June 6th at BIC, Bangalore, India.
About the book:
In a society shaped by deep inequalities, where healthcare and legal systems often reinforce class, caste, religion, and gender hierarchies, this book offers a powerful examination of patienthood in India. Through its critical approach, it seeks to disrupt binaries—such as universalistic and particularistic values and data versus theory—while decentering normative discourses by foregrounding lived experiences within the context. It offers philosophical and conceptual insights that extend far beyond local variations and contexts, challenging dominant narratives in global discourses on medical decision-making and concepts such as informed consent, autonomy, and respect.
This book critiques the archetype of the “passive patient” entrenched in both medicine and law in India — an image that undermines agency, diminishes self-respect, and sustains a culture of disrespect. Chapters of the book unpacks the intersections of power, social categories, and patienthood, exposing how marginalized communities face everyday indignities in healthcare and law. It explores law and medicine’s role in maintaining presumed 'passive patient' archetype, especially through legal judgements and healthcare encounters. This book advocates for reimagining patienthood as centered on self-respect, recognition, and agency, arguing that the “passive patient” is not an isolated phenomenon but an outcome of broader, oppressive structures.