1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910965428103321

Autore

Schneirov Matthew

Titolo

A diagnosis for our times : alternative health, from lifeworld to politics / / Matthew Schneirov, Jonathan David Geczik

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Albany, : State University Press of New York, c2003

ISBN

9780791486818

0791486818

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (244 p.)

Collana

SUNY series in the sociology of culture

Altri autori (Persone)

GeczikJonathan David <d. 2001.>

Disciplina

615.5

Soggetti

Alternative medicine

Social medicine

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 201-217) and index.

Nota di contenuto

""A DIAGNOSIS FOR OUR TIMES: Alternative Health, from Lifeworld to Politics""; ""Contents""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Introduction""; ""1. The Study of Alternative Health""; ""2. Biomedicine and the Loss of Meaning""; ""3. Between the Aura and the Commodity""; ""4. Technologies of the Self""; ""5. New Social Movements""; ""6. From Alternativeto Complementary Medicine""; ""Conclusion""; ""Notes""; ""Index""; ""A""; ""B""; ""C""; ""D""; ""E""; ""F""; ""G""; ""H""; ""I""; ""J""; ""K""; ""L""; ""M""; ""N""; ""O""; ""P""; ""Q""; ""R""; ""S""; ""T""; ""U""; ""V""; ""W""; ""Y""

Sommario/riassunto

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.