Social and Cultural Perspectives on Health, Technology and Medicine

This book examines some of the most enduring core concepts in the social sciences, including society, culture, kinship, production, exchange and ritual. The authors consider how, and with what consequences, these are mobilized within contemporary fields of health, technology and medicine. They demonstrate that such concepts are complex and contested but when appropriately contextualized can retain considerable relevance for social scientists and health scholars seeking to make sense of medicine, science and technology and the problems that surround them today. The chapters include a range of illustrative case studies, drawn from transplant medicine, genetic counselling, cancer therapy, reproductive health and addiction.

Ciara Kierans is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology in the Department of Public Health and Policy at the University of Liverpool, UK. Kirsten Bell is a Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Carol Kingdon is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health at the University of Central Lancashire, UK.

Foreword (Deborah Lupton) Introduction 1. Culture (Ciara Kierans) 2. Society (Carol Kingdon) 3. Magic (Kirsten Bell) 4. Production (Carol Kingdon) 5. Kinship (Kirsten Bell) 6. Exchange (Ciara Kierans) 7. The Body (Ciara Kierans & Kirsten Bell) Conclusion