Wiley-Blackwell A Reader in Medical Anthropology: Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities: 15 (Wiley Blackwell Anthologies in Social and Cultural Anthropology)

A Reader in Medical Anthropology: Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities brings together articles from the key theoretical approaches in the field of medical anthropology as well as related science and technology studies. The editors’ comprehensive introductions evaluate the historical lineages of these approaches and their value in addressing critical problems associated with contemporary forms of illness experience and health care. Presents a key selection of both classic and new agenda-setting articles in medical anthropologyProvides analytic and historical contextual introductions by leading figures in medical anthropology, medical sociology, and science and technology studiesCritically reviews the contribution of medical anthropology to a new global health movement that is reshaping international health agendas Review "The impressive scope of this wonderful reader, drawing on its editors' immense collective experience, offers a marvelous reframing of the foundational debates in twentieth-century medical anthropology, including both the full range of canonical readings but also several texts that should be canonical. It links these debates to a wide range of contemporary work, serving as much as an introduction to the discipline’s future as to its past." —Lawrence Cohen, University of California, Berkeley"This collection is distinctive for its range, depth, and most of all for its taste in theoretical ingenuity and the most compelling, memorable writing in contemporary medical anthropology." —George Marcus, University of California, Irvine"A Reader in Medical Anthropology is uniquely successful in assembling seminal publications representing the century-long history of medical anthropology. It is the first collection to successfully combine the diverse perspectives, epistemologies, and topical interests of contemporary medical anthropology with its intellectual wellsprings." —Allan Young, McGill University"This collection of classic and innovative essays adds lustre and new, surprising facets to the anthropology of medicine. It crystallizes the most important and compelling cultural analysis of human disease and social suffering, personal trauma, and global insecurity." —Warwick Anderson, University of Sydney From the Inside Flap A Reader in Medical Anthropology: Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities brings together essays that represent the seven key themes that make up today’s vibrant field of medical anthropology: the theoretical legacy; phenomenologies of illness and narrative, body and experience; biological citizenship; the biotechnical embrace; the new medical biosciences; global health and medicine; and postcolonial power relations and humanitarian challenges of the contemporary world. In their introductions, the editors argue that on the one hand emergent realities challenge medical anthropology to change many of its practices and theories; on the other hand, a vital set of theoretical traditions provide comparative moral compasses for current health dilemmas. In this ground-breaking new reader, the contributors demonstrate how medical anthropology is on the cutting edge of new integrative work in anthropology, global health, and the life sciences. From the Back Cover A Reader in Medical Anthropology: Theoretical Trajectories, Emergent Realities brings together essays that represent the seven key themes that make up today’s vibrant field of medical anthropology: the theoretical legacy; phenomenologies of illness and narrative, body and experience; biological citizenship; the biotechnical embrace; the new medical biosciences; global health and medicine; and postcolonial power relations and humanitarian challenges of the contemporary world. In their introductions, the editors argue that on the one hand emergent realities challenge medical anthropology to change many of its practices and theories; on the other hand, a vital set of theoretical traditi