The Ostrom-Wacquant Model Applied: Vietnamese Herbal Apprenticeship in Islamabad

Abstract

Vietnamese herbal apprenticeship refers to an ancestry-based mode of knowledge transmission, in which, therapeutic practices are learned through direct mentorship, observation and long-term immersion within traditional healing environments rooted in Vietnamese ethnomedicine. Historically, such knowledge moved beyond Vietnam through diasporic mobility, transregional practitioner networks and integrative medicine exchanges, gradually entering Pakistan in the late 20^th century via informal training circuits and complementary therapy clinics. This study addresses a core governance problem, namely the absence of regulatory clarity and institutional recognition for apprenticeship based foreign herbal systems within Pakistan’s plural health structure. It raises two research questions, first how Vietnamese herbal apprenticeship is positioned within Pakistan’s broader health governance framework, and second how such practices operate within the urban regulatory and socio-cultural environment of Islamabad. Empirical findings from semi structured interviews with experts (N=3) and their patients (N=20) indicate moderate socio-cultural acceptance driven by affordability, perceived efficacy and patient trust, alongside concerns regarding standardisation and legal ambiguity. Here, the Ostrom-Wacquant Model integrates polycentric governance with neoliberal structural analysis to conceptualise how multiple health authorities coexist under uneven regulatory conditions shaped by market expansion and state limitation. This study applies respective model to map authority distribution, regulatory gaps and legitimacy patterns within Vietnamese herbal practice. The findings demonstrate that Vietnamese herbal apprenticeship in Islamabad operates within a hybrid governance space marked by informal legitimacy, selective acceptance and structural regulatory exclusion.