Abstract

In this article we propose a review of medical anthropology in Spain from a historical perspective. The article discusses different stages: 1. the historical relations between medicine and anthropology, including the emergence of medical folklore (19th-20th centuries), 2. the origin of medical anthropology and the obstacles to the emergence of the specialty in a context in which Spanish social anthropology has had other priorities, 3. the institutionalization of medical anthropology (1982-2000), and 4. current developments, such as cultural psychiatry, the study of illness and handicaps, the ethnography of professions and institutions, and the analysis of medical pluralism, among many others. We conclude with an open discussion on the future of medical anthropology in Spain. We focus especially on the challenges facing the field in a global context in which the new process of medicalization is creating new identities —and bio-identities— and complexities requiring new anthropological strategies, and the need to rethink previously established concepts.

Highlights

  • In this article we propose a review of medical anthropology in Spain from a historical perspective

  • We conclude with an open discussion on the future of medical anthropology in Spain

  • «La medicina popolare in Italia: Avvio ad una nuova fase della ricerca e del dibattito»

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Summary

Josep Maria Comelles

En este artículo proponemos una revisión de la antropología médica en España desde una perspectiva histórica. Las relaciones históricas entre la medicina y la antropología, incluyendo la aparición del folcklore médico (siglos XIX-XX); 2. Los desarrollos temáticos actuales, tales como la psiquiatría cultural, el estudio de las enfermedades y discapacidades, la etnografía de las profesiones y las instituciones, y el análisis del pluralismo médico, entre muchos otros. Se concluye con un debate abierto sobre el futuro de la antropología médica en España, en el que nos centramos, especialmente, en los desafíos ante un contexto global en el que los nuevos procesos de medicalización están creando nuevas identidades —y bio-identidades— y complejidades que obligan a pensar nuevas estrategias antropológicas, así como la necesidad de repensar lo ya pensado.

SUMMARY
ANTROPOLOGÍA Y MEDICINA EN ESPAÑA
DEBATES DEL PRESENTE
BIBLIOGRAFÍA CITADA
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