The misconstruction of critical medical anthropology: a response to a cultural constructivist critique.
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.
Baer
H A
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Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Arkansas at Little Rock 72204, USA.
D000883:Anthropology; D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011056:Political Systems; D009626:Terminology as Topic