 The 'limits' of medicalization?: Modern medicine and the lay populace in 'late' modernitySimon J. Williams and Michael Calnan Social Science & Medicine, 1996, vol. 42, issue 12, 1609-1620 Abstract: Taking as its point of departure the medicalization thesis and its limitations, this paper provides a critical discussion of certain more recent theoretical perspectives on life in contemporary society, and their relevance for understanding the relationship between modern medicine and the lay populace. In particular, attention is paid to the contours and existential parameters of life in 'late' modernity in terms of the following four key themes: (i) modernity as a 'reflexive' social order; (ii) 'risk' and the dialectic of scientific and social rationality; (iii) the 'mediation' of contemporary experience; and (iv) lay 're-skilling' and the 'life political' agenda. On the basis of this, it is argued that far from being simply passive and dependent, a 'critical distance' is beginning to emerge between modern medicine and the lay populace; a situation which resonates with broader social trends and currents within society at large. Keywords: medicalization; medical; technology; lay; perspectives; risk; reflexivity; resistance; sociological (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:42:y:1996:i:12:p:1609-1620 Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from Access Statistics for this article Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier |
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