Lecture

Inflamed: Colonial Capitalism’s Damage to the Body and the Planet

Dr. Rupa Marya links chronic disease and climate collapse to colonial capitalism, showing how systemic exploitation causes inflammation in people and ecosystems. She calls for “deep medicine” rooted in reciprocity, decolonization, and community-led ecological healing.

Learning Objectives

The learning objectives for this lecture are to:

  • Understand the history and function of the colonial capitalist cosmology
  • Understand the concept of the exposome and how the exposome has been shaped by colonial capitalism and its relationship to chronic inflammatory disease
  • Consider colonial capitalism as a root cause of the climate collapse
  • Understand why we must advance a higher order of diagnosis and the connected concept of deep medicine
Dr. Rupa Marya

Dr. Rupa Marya is an Associate Professor of Medicine at UCSF and co-author of Inflamed. Her work connects climate, health, and racial justice through medical practice, activism, and writing.

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