The misconstruction of critical medical anthropology: A response to a cultural constructivist critique

Hans A. Baer

Social Science & Medicine, 1997, vol. 44, issue 10, 1565-1573

Abstract: Since its emergence over a decade ago as a distinct theoretical framework, critical medical anthropology (CMA) has engaged in debate and dialogue with various other perspectives within medical anthropology, particularly clinical anthropology, medical ecology, and, to a lesser degree, postmodernism. While at least two genres of CMA have emerged, both of which are involved in a dialogue with each other, proponents of other perspectives often misread or "misconstruct" the agenda of CMA as both a theoretical framework and a strategy for health activism. This essay in particular critiques this process among proponents of the interpretative or cultural constructivist perspective. On a positive note, however, I urge critical medical anthropologists and cultural constructivists within medical anthropology to enter into a dialogue with each other because their two perspectives, despite the presence of obvious epistemological differences, share commonalities.

Keywords: critical; medical; anthropology; cultural; constructivism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997
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