Beyond health: medicines, food supplements, energetics and the commodification of self‐performance in Maputo

Abstract

With an increasing range of products in global and local markets, more options are available for individuals to enhance their image and their (cognitive, social and physical) performance. These ‘performance consumptions’ relate to ideals of well‐being and improvement, and are based on constructed desires, expectations and needs that go beyond the (often blurred) dichotomy of health and illness. Drawing from mixed‐methods research in Maputo, Mozambique, this paper discusses individuals’ use of medicines and other substances – pharmaceuticals, food supplements, traditional herbs, cosmetics and energy drinks – for managing different aspects of their everyday lives. Through an overview of the main consumption practices, we explore the underlying purposes and strategies of users, and the perceived legitimacy and risks involved when using a variety of products accessible through formal and informal exchange channels. From tiredness to sexual and aesthetic management, we show how the body becomes the locus of experimentation and investment to perform in accordance with socially expected roles, individual aspirations and everyday tasks. With insights from individuals’ accounts in Maputo, we aim to add to discussions on pharmaceuticalisation of body management by showing how the emergence of new performance consumptions is articulated with the reconfiguration of more ‘traditional’ consumption practices.

Deciphering a Non-meal

“…Like poor, low‐caste consumers in India (Baviskar 2018) and those at the “bottom of the pyramid” in Papua New Guinea who turn to instant noodles (Errington, Fujikura, and Gewertz 2012), our interlocutors may feel “pleased with their access to a world‐pervading, competitively priced, convenient, satisfying, daily belly filler—pleased with their access to this particular kind of contemporary hunger killer” (Errington, Fujikura, and Gewertz 2012, 28). Coffee, soft drinks, and energy drinks fall into a similar category, allowing our interlocutors to meet the demands for various kinds of labor amid contexts of “capitalist transformations” and “performance consumptions” of labor (Mintz 1986; Roseberry 1996; Rodrigues, Lopes, and Hardon 2019). Pantawid‐gutom illustrates the overlapping meanings attached to these resources and unsettles rigid ideas assigned to food items and other sources of sustenance.…”

A New Time of Reckoning, a Time for New Reckoning: Views on Health and Society, Tensions between Medicine and the Social Sciences, and the Process of Medicalization

“…Equally illustrative of these new logics of pharmaceuticalization is the non-medical use of drugs for recreational ends, namely in university contexts by young people [208,209], the use of pharmacological resources to customize or manage sleep [210,211], chronobiological optimization interventions to address circadian disruptions resulting from the diverse impact of life rhythms [212], the use of pharmacological resources for enhancement purposes [213,214], or the consumption of medication for performance management and, therefore, human conditions that are not medicalized [215][216][217][218][219].…”

Precarity and clinical determinants of healthcare-seeking behaviour and antibiotic use in rural Laos and Thailand

“…Consequently, 'quick fix' solutions such as self-medication or antibiotic purchase without prescriptions can be interpreted as default strategies to cope with adversity, [23][24][25] or perhaps even as 'performance enhancers'. 26 Precarity could therefore challenge the underlying assumptions and ultimately the effectiveness of public awareness campaigns that form the backbone of global AMR strategies ('Only take antibiotics prescribed to you'). 4 8 27 However, and despite the growing body of work, evidence evaluating contextual factors leading to precarity against the backdrop of AMR is limited (empirical research has studied the broader link between precarity and health but with a tendency to focus on high-income contexts [28][29][30] ).…”