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.