Focusing on the anthropology of infectious disease, this book presents a critical biocultural framework that integrates various research aspects within the field. It aims to advance understanding and scholarship in this complex area, making it an excellent supplemental resource for students and researchers alike.
"Viewing African American sectarianism as a response to racism and social stratification in the larger society, the authors trace the history, beliefs, social organization, and ritual content of religious groups in four types of sects. These include the Black mainline churches; messianic-nationalist sects, such as the Nation of Islam; conversionist sects, such as the Holiness-Pentecostal groups and Primitive Baptists; and thaumaturgical sects, including the Spiritual churches.".
This collection presents seven research-based articles that challenge common misconceptions about AIDS through a political economic lens. By analyzing the epidemic in various contexts, it aims to provide a deeper understanding of the spread and impact of AIDS, moving beyond conventional narratives to highlight the complexities of the crisis.
Towards a Socio-Ecological Revolution
Focusing on anthropogenic climate change and the global socio-ecological crisis, this book offers a critical analysis relevant to various academic fields. Researchers and students in environmental anthropology, human geography, sociology, and political science will find valuable insights that explore the interconnectedness of social and ecological issues. The work emphasizes the importance of understanding these challenges through a multidisciplinary lens.
How do we understand and respond to the pressing health problems of modern society? Conventional practice focuses on the assessment and clinical treatment of immediate health issues presented by individual patients. In contrast, social medicine advocates an equal focus on the assessment and social treatment of underlying social conditions, such as environmental factors, structural violence and social injustice. Social Justice and Medical Practice examines the practice of social medicine through extensive life history interviews with a physician practicing the approach in marginalized communities. It presents a case example of social medicine in action, demonstrating how such a practice can be successfully pursued within the context of the existing structure of twenty-first century medicine. In examining the experience of a physician on the frontlines of reforming healthcare, the book critiques the restrictive nature of the dominant clinical model of medicine and argues for a radically expanded focus for modern day medical practice. Social Justice and Medical Practice is a timely intervention at a time when even advanced healthcare systems are facing multiple crises. Lucidly written, it presents a striking alternative and is important reading for students and practitioners of medicine and anthropology, as well as policy makers.
The purpose of this book is to provide an introduction and overview to the critical perspective as it has evolved in medical anthropology over the last ten years. Standing as an opposition approach to conventional medical anthropology, critical medical anthropology has emphasized the importance of political and economy forces, including the exercise of power, in shaping health, disease, illness experience, and health care.
Democratic Eco-Socialism as a Real Utopia outlines the urgent need to reevaluate the current system, and replace it with one capable of mobilizing people globally to prevent on-going human socio-economic, environmental degradation, and anthropogenic climate change.