Wyzwanie biomedykalizacji. Socjologia medycyny oraz socjologia zdrowia i choroby „podszyte” teorią aktora-sieci

Abstract

The article investigates a theoretical framework that would enable effective and fruitful studies of biomedicalization. Biomedicalization is the ongoing expansion of medical discourse, the dynamics of which is determined by technological developments. It is related with the dominant economic interests and power. It generates new areas of risk and the scientific controversies. The first discussed theoretical framework is the medical sociology and the sociology of health and illness. Although both proposals have much to offer, they are not sufficient for the problem of biomedicalization. Their main weaknesses are: exclusion of biological knowledge about the disease, the tendency to reductionism, lack of interest in the controversies. Because of these shortcomings, the author of the paper postulates that medical sociology and the sociology of health and illness should be supplemented by actor-network theory. The main points are: the adoption of relational and hybrid way of thinking about social phenomena, broadening the definition of agency and special interest in the controversies.