Decolonization and the movement for institutionalization of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong: a political process perspective

Stephen W.K. Chiu, Lisanne S.F. Ko and Rance P.L. Lee

Social Science & Medicine, 2005, vol. 61, issue 5, 1045-1058

Abstract: This paper focuses on the question of why the social and political acceptance of Chinese medicine has grown in the former British colony of Hong Kong since the late 1980s. To supplement the conventional explanations for the institutionalization of alternative medicines, we propose a political process perspective that highlights the effects of political changes amidst the decolonization process in Hong Kong. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the weakening of the political position of the established elite, the opening up of political space for previously excluded groups, and the competition for support among the new political elite, all stimulated the indigenous Chinese medicine organizations to mobilize for the institutionalization of Chinese medicine. By the mid-1990s academics from leading tertiary institutions began to take over the leadership of the movement and in doing so carried it to a higher level. In the conclusion, we briefly consider the implications of this movement for the future development of alternative medicine in Hong Kong and other societies.

Keywords: Alternative; medicine; Traditional; medicine; Political; process; Hong; Kong (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00025-0
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:5:p:1045-1058

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

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
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().