Week 1 Flashcards
(36 cards)
What is Medical Anthropology?
“Medical Anthropology is about how people in different cultures and social
groups explain the causes of ill health, the types of treatment they believe in,
and to whom they turn if they do get ill. It is also the study of how these
beliefs and practices relate to biological, psychological and social changes
in the human organism, in both health and disease. It is the study of human
suffering, and the steps that suffering.” (Helman,2007:1).
people take to explain and relieve that
Why does this matter
- “Any society’s health care system cannot aspects of that society, especially its organization.” (Helman, 2007:50).
be studied in isolation from other
social, religious, political and economic organisation
Medical Anthropology:
- A branch of social anthropology
- Studies systems of belief and understanding about the body, health, illness, birth, death, suffering
- Biocultural/biosocial discipline:
- Engages with socio-cultural understandings biomedical approaches to health/illness
of health/illness and - Solves clinical problems by drawing from various perspectives (clinical
medicine, pathology, genetics, epidemiology, anthropology). - The aim is not to debunk science whilst promoting traditional medicine
What do medical anthropologists do?
- Understanding how people make meaning:
The body, health, illness, biological processes (childbirth, puberty,
menopause). - Understanding how people make meaning of illness, healing and prevention
Metaphors, societal norms, cultural beliefs. - Understand how indigenous/traditional/religious belief systems engage medical issues and how they interact with practices.
Different health
biomedical
sectors - Medical pluralism
economy, - Understanding how politics, economy and culture produce certain health and illness experiences.
Why are certain people prone to certain diseases? How is health and illness ‘distributed’, Why do others get health and others do not?
Critical Medical Anthropology/ Theoretical Aspects
Political economy of illness and disease
Health disparities - Unequal access to health care, nutrition, safety, etc. Intersections between illness and poverty, race, class, gender
Strives to understand medical issues in the socio - political-economic
context
Warns against of a narrow understanding of culture that blames health
outcomes on people’s culture/cultural preference
Reading 1:
Critical Medical Anthropology – A Voice for Just and Equitable Healthcare” by Anna Witeska-
Młynarczyk
Reading 1: What is CMA
Critical Medical Anthropology (CMA) is a powerful approach within medical
anthropology that looks beyond individual illnesses to examine the broader
social, political, and economic structures that shape health outcomes. It’s not
just about what makes people sick—but why certain groups are more likely to
suffer and how systems of power (like capitalism, inequality, racism, etc.)
influence health.
Reading1: Origins & Theoretical Foundations
CMA emerged in movement.
the 1970s alongside the political economy of health
It was influenced by Marxist theory (like Engels’ work on class and disease)
and later by thinkers like Michel Foucault (who introduced ideas like biopower
—how governments manage people through health systems).
Immanuel Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory also contributed: CMA argues
that global capitalism has created “core” (wealthy) and “periphery” (exploited)
regions, and this directly impacts access to healthcare.
R1:Key Concepts in CMA (based on Merrill Singer’s framework)
Health: Not just the a satisfying life.
absence of disease but access to resources that support
Disease: A biological and social phenomenon—illness can reflect inequality.
Syndemics: The idea that multiple diseases (e.g., HIV and TB) often interact
and are worsened by social conditions like poverty.
Sufferer Experience: People’s lived experiences of illness are culture, politics, and economy.
shaped by
Medicalization: The expansion sadness as depression).
Medical Hegemony: How biomedicine (Western scientific medicine)
becomes dominant due to capitalism, not just because it “works better.”
Medical Pluralism: The coexistence of multiple healing biomedicine, traditional healing). Often, one dominates the politics and power.
R1:Real-World Applications
Case studies show how CMA sheds light global capitalism on health:
In Chile, neoliberal reforms affected mental health on the effects of poverty, policy, and
in poor communities.
Paul Farmer’s work shows how AIDS is tied to poverty in places like Haiti and
the US.
In Africa, CMA helped show that fighting HIV/AIDS also requires addressing tuberculosis—one disease can’t be tackled alone.
R1:Pharmaceuticals & Power
The article criticizes pharmaceutical companies for operating like consumer
goods corporations—targeting poor populations for drug trials, even when
those drugs are unaffordable.
The “pharmaceutical self” describes how modern shaped by medication (e.g., antidepressants used identities are increasingly to
“optimize” personality).
R1:Patients, Power & Global Mental Health
CMA critiques global mental health programs (like those led by the WHO) for
pushing Western diagnoses and treatments without adapting to local cultures.
It notes how biomedicine is sometimes seen as a form of colonialism, but also
how it can be welcomed depending on local contexts.
R1: Doctors and Institutions
Even doctors are affected- many lose autonomy in increasingly bureaucratic profit-driven health systems
The doctor-patient relationship often reinforces inequalities (the doctor expert, the patient is subordinate)
R1:CMA’s Mission: Health as Social Justice:
CMA wants to uncover inequalities, amplify marginalized voices, and
guide policies that promote health equity.
It calls for governments to prioritize human wellbeing over corporate profits.
As Nancy Scheper-Hughes puts it, CMA is a “militant anthropology”—it seeks to take action, not just kind
study.
R1:Why care as an anthropology student
CMA gives you tools to understand how health is never just biological - it’s deeply political, economic, and cultural.
It helps anthropologists work toward real-world change, especially for those margins. It offers a critical lens to challenge dominant narratives in medicine and public health
Reading 2:
Introduction: The Scope of Medical Anthropology” It is from the book - Cecil G. Helman
R2:What is Medical Anthropology?
Medical anthropology is a branch of anthropology that studies how different cultures understand health, illness, and healing. It looks at how social, cultural, biological, and environmental factors influence health behavior and healthcare systems
R2:The Roots of Medical Anthropology
It stems from social and cultural anthropology, but also incorporates biology, medicine and public health.
Anthropology is a holistic discipline—it studies humans in all their complexity, across cultures, time periods, and biological dimensions. Medical anth specifically focuses on suffering, treatment beliefs and healing practices, placing them within a cultural conetxt.
R2: Key concepts
- Culture: defined as the system of shared beliefs, values, norms that guide human behaviour.
Edward T. Hall describes culture as having three levels:
Tertiary: Surface-level practices (e.g., food, rituals)
Secondary: Rules known within the group but not always shared
Primary: Deep, unconscious norms and values
Culture acts as a lens shaping how people perceive health and illness. - Society vs culture
Society: A group of people living together with shared social systems
Culture: The symbolic, ideational side (beliefs, values, practices)
Anth studies both together- how people organise themselves abd how they make sense of the world
R2: Medical Subcultures & diversity
Professions like medicine, nursing, and law have their own subcultures
In complex societies, multiple subcultures coexist: ethnic, religious, generational, class based
Even within one society, people experinece and interpret health differently depending on their background and social position
R2: Misuses of culture
Be careful not to stereotype! Cultures are not homogenous.
Always consider the context—economic hardship, discrimination, or lack of access might shape behavior more than culture.
Overusing “culture” to explain illness can lead to cultural camouflage, where real
medical or mental issues are misunderstood.
R2:Social inequality and health
Social and economic inequality is a major determinant of health.
Factors like income, education, race, gender, and job status strongly health outcomes (e.g., Whitehall Study in the UK).
Poorer or minority populations often face worse health, not just due to culture, but
due to systemic issues like racism, poverty, and access to care.
R2:The ‘Biocultural’ Approach
Medical anthropology is biocultural: it examines how biology and culture interact.
Example: a genetic disorder might be common in a group due to marriage
customs, not just genes.