An Anthropology of Biomedicine

by Margaret M. Lock, Vinh-Kim Nguyen

An Anthropology of Biomedicine is an exciting new introduction to biomedicine and its global implications. Focusing on the ways in which the application of biomedical technologies bring about radical changes to societies at large, cultural anthropologist Margaret Lock and her co-author physician and medical anthropologist Vinh-Kim Nguyen develop and integrate the thesis that the human body in health and illness is the elusive product of nature and culture that refuses to be pinned down.
Introduces biomedicine from an anthropological perspective, exploring the entanglement of material bodies with history, environment, culture, and politics Develops and integrates an original theory: that the human body in health and illness is not an ontological given but a moveable, malleable entity Makes extensive use of historical and contemporary ethnographic materials around the globe to illustrate the importance of this methodological approach Integrates key new research data with more classical material, covering the management of epidemics, famines, fertility and birth, by military doctors from colonial times on Uses numerous case studies to illustrate concepts such as the global commodification of human bodies and body parts, modern forms of population, and the extension of biomedical technologies into domestic and intimate domains Winner of the 2010 Prose Award for Archaeology and Anthropology

Genres: Anthropology, Science, Biology, Nonfiction, School, Medicine

520 pages, Paperback

First published March 4, 2010

About the author

Margaret Lock FRSC is a distinguished Canadian medical anthropologist, known for her publications in connection with an anthropology of the body and embodiment, comparative epistemologies of medical knowledge and practice, and the global impact of emerging biomedical technologies.

Reviews

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 3 out of 5]

The detail that got me in An Anthropology of Biomedicine was a throwaway line about what people leave unsaid at funerals. Margaret M. Lock is full of moments like that, small and sharp and true. The main plot is okay. Perfect for readers who collect little observations, skip if you read for the big story.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit disappointing. It reads like a survey of the last 30 years of medical history, anthropology, and sociology, with a lean to the theory. If you’ve been reading in those areas, there’s not as much new here as I’d hoped.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lock, Margaret M. uses An Anthropology of Biomedicine to prove that when a culture prioritizes predictability over truth, genuine art and free speech are the first things sacrificed.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

systematically challenging the assumptions at the heart of the practice of bio-medicine. Nicely done.

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new here.