Social Lives of Medicines

Anthropologists show that medicines are more than chemical substances with medical effects. They have social lives because they move between people; they carry meaning and offer possibilities for communication and control. As commodities they are objects of intense commercial and political interest. Using examples from five continents, this book takes up central problems in the study of medicines including social efficacy, symbolism, and commodification. It provides a readable and thought provoking introduction to current anthropological research on medicines in society.

Part I. Introduction: 1. An anthropology of materia medica; Part II. The Consumers: 2. Mothers and children: the efficacies of drugs; 3. Villagers and local remedies: the symbolic nature of medicines; 4. Women in distress: medicines for control; 5. Sceptical consumers: doubts about medicines; Part III. The Providers: 6. Drug vendors and their market: the commodification of health; 7. Pharmacists as doctors: bridging the sectors of health care; 8. Injectionists: the attraction of technology; 9. Prescribing physicians: medicines as communication; Part IV. The Strategists: 10. Manufacturers: scientific claims, commercial aims; 11. Health planners: making and contesting drug policy; Part V. Conclusion: 12. Anthropologists and the sociality of medicines.