In this Book
- A Diagnosis for Our Times: Alternative Health, from Lifeworld to Politics
- Book
- 2003
- Published by: State University of New York Press
- Series: SUNY series in the Sociology of Culture (discontinued)
summary
Explores Americans' increasing attraction to alternative medicine by looking at two alternative health networks, one "New Age," the other conservative Christian. Despite having one of the most advanced systems of medicine in the world, American consumers are increasingly turning to alternative medicine. Through a study of two alternative health networks, one “New Age” and the other conservative Christian, A Diagnosis for Our Times examines the health regimes followed by clients of alternative practitioners, the way people find meaning in non-Western and pre-modern health traditions, and the relationship between alternative health and other movements for change. In sharp contrast with other work on this subject, this book characterizes alternative health as a social movement and a “cultural laboratory” where people discover new values and new ways of living that may have larger implications. The authors discover surprising commonalities between the cultural left and the religious right when it comes to healthcare, and they evaluate the potential of alternative health to contribute to a new healthcare paradigm.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Acknowledgments
- pp. ix-xi
- Introduction
- pp. 1-16
- 1. The Study of Alternative Health
- pp. 17-40
- 4. Technologies of the Self
- pp. 99-122
- 5. New Social Movements
- pp. 123-154
- Conclusion
- pp. 183-200
Additional Information
ISBN
9780791486818
DOI
MARC Record
OCLC
794701294
Pages
242
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No