Conceptions of the body are central not only to substantive work in medical anthropology, but also to the philosophical underpinnings of the entire discipline of anthropology, where Western assumptions about the mind and body, the individual and society, affect both theoretical viewpoints and research paradigms. These same conceptions also influence ways in which health care is planned and delivered in Western societies. In this article we advocate the deconstruction of received concepts about the body and begin this process by examining three perspectives from which the body may be viewed: (1) as a phenomenally experienced individual body-self; (2) as a social body, a natural symbol for thinking about relationships among nature, society, and culture; and (3) as a body politic, an artifact of social and political control. After discussing ways in which anthropologists, other social scientists, and people from various cultures have conceptualized the body, we propose the study of emotions as an area of inquiry that holds promise for providing a new approach to the subject.

The Mindful Body: A Prolegomenon to Future Work in Medical Anthropology

www.mobilehealthmap.org 617‐442‐3200 New research shows that mobile health clinics improve health outcomes for hard to reach populations in cost‐effective and culturally competent ways . A Harvard Medical School study determined that for every dollar invested in a mobile health clinic, the US healthcare system saves $30 on average. Mobile health clinics, which offer a range of services from preventive screenings to asthma treatment, leverage their mobility to treat people in the convenience of their own communities. For example, a mobile health clinic in Baltimore, MD, has documented savings of $3,500 per child seen due to reduced asthma‐related hospitalizations. The estimated 2,000 mobile health clinics across the country are providing similarly cost‐effective access to healthcare for a wide range of populations. Many successful mobile health clinics cite their ability to foster trusting relationships. Qualitative research in such mobile health clinics has found that patients value the informal, familiar environment in a convenient location, with staff who “are easy to talk to,” and that the staff’s “marriage of professional and personal discourses” provides patients the space to disclose information themselves. A communications academic argued that mobile health clinics’ unique use of space is important in facilitating these relationships. Mobile health clinics park in the heart of the community in familiar spaces, like shopping centers or bus stations, which lend themselves to the local community atmosphere.

Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care

basic research and clinical data in an attempt to derive a cohesive model which explains the behavioral effects of the drug. Johnson is an experimental psychologist, and his work underlies many of the chapters which suggest that lithium decreases the behavioral response to novel external stimuli. He then utilizes this foundation to propose a cognitive model for lithium's anti-manic action, its inhibition of violent impulsivity, and its prophylactic effects in recurrent depression. Previous formulations which were clinically based, such as that of Mabel Blake Cohen and her associates, stressed the primacy of depression and noted the \"manic defense\" as an attempt to ward off intolerable depression. In direct contrast, Johnson views mania as the primary disturbance in bipolar disorder. He considers depression in bipolar disease as an over-zealous homeostatic inhibitory responsf to a maniaassociated cognitive overload. Consistent with this, he believes, lit lum exerts its anti-manic effect by decreasing cognitive processing in a manner analogous to his animal studies. Johnson also suggests that lithium exerts its prophylactic effect in recurrent depressions by treating subclinical mania. These concepts are supported by the work of Johnson's associate, Kukopulos, to whom the book is dedicated. The bulk of the research which describes the cognitive disturbance in mania is complex, however, and uncomfortably open to multiple interpretations. Recognized as a preliminary effort, Johnson's formulation may help to guide further research. Although Johnson clearly traces lithium actions through a broad range of subjects, his discussion of the neurophysiological aspects of this drug is notably spotty. In particular, Johnson ignores the work of Svensson, DeMontigny, Aghajanian, and others who suggest that serotonergic systems may play an important role in the antidepressant actions of lithium. As a result, he fails to discuss one of the most important current uses of lithium: as an agent used in conjunction with antidepressant medications to increase treatment response in medication-resistant forms of depression. Lithium augmentation of antidepressant medication also challenges the formulation presented by Johnson. This formulation suggests that lithium should have no therapeutic value in patients, such as those with endogenous depression, who already \"under-process\" cognitive information. The omission of lithium augmentation in depression is clearly unfortunate in this text. Overall, this volume demonstrates the benefits of a single-authored text. It it clearly organized and readable. The bibliography is also broad and useful. In this book, Johnson primarily addresses a research audience, and his model seems designed to stimulate thought rather than to improve clinical technique. In this capacity, his book will be of most interest to behavioral psychologists. Other books, focusing purely on clinical data, may be more useful to clinicians. Nevertheless, the clear organization, the large bibliography, and the thoughtful presentation may make this text a useful addition to a clinical library as well.

The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World.

Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Readings and responses 2. Preface to the 1st edition 3. Introduction to the 1st edition 4. Interactive artifacts 5. Plans 6. Situated actions 7. Communicative resources 8. Case and methods 9. Human-machine communication 10. Conclusion to the 1st edition 11. Plans, scripts and other ordering devices 12. Agencies at the interface 13. Figuring the human in AI and robotics 14. Demystifications and re-enchantments of the human-like machine 15. Reconfigurations Notes References.

Human-Machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Actions

The biological existence of human beings has become political in novel ways. The object, target and stake of this new 'vital' politics are human life itself. The contemporary state does not 'nationalize' the corporeality of its subjects into a body politic on which it works en masse, in relation to the body politics of other states competing in similar terms. Biopolitics addresses human existence at the molecular level: it is waged about molecules, amongst molecules, and where the molecules themselves are at stake. Human beings in contemporary Western culture are increasingly coming to understand themselves in somatic terms – corporeality has become of the most important sites for ethical judgements and techniques. Biopolitics was inextricably bound up with the rise of the life sciences, the human sciences, clinical medicine. It has given birth to techniques, technologies, experts and apparatuses for the care and administration of the life of each and all, from town planning to health services.

/pdf/the-politics-of-life-itself-4278mv6s8b.pdf

The Politics of Life Itself

The Human Genome Diversity Project has encountered worldwide criticism of its activities both by the peoples it proposes to study and scientists. Reasons for this criticism are examined with an emphasis on the wide-spread fears associated with increased commodification of human DNA. It is argued that, in spite of the proposed involvement of communities in research design and the revision of ethical protocols, confrontational biopolitics associated with the procurement of human tissue samples will continue, particularly when indigenous peoples are made into research subjects.

/pdf/genetic-diversity-and-the-politics-of-difference-3oy7l7gc40.pdf

Genetic Diversity and the Politics of Difference

Postgenomics, uncertain futures, and the familiarization of susceptibility genes.

The message in the bottle illness and the micropolitics of resistance

Medicalization usually refers to the process whereby the normal processes of pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation and menopause have been claimed and redefined by medicine. Rather than discussing medicalization and menopause in terms of the number of women taking hormones, or the percentage of physicians convinced they should prescribe them, this paper looks at the visual image of the menopausal woman as portrayed in the pharmaceutical literature and in the mass media. Unlike the depressed and sickly looking women shown in the pharmaceutical advertisements in the 1970s, this 1990s version of the menopausal woman is shown glowing with fitness, with well-maintained teeth, hair and skin, far too fit to break a hip, have a heart attack, or witness the slow destruction of their minds by Alzheimer's disease. This image is not to be confused with the reality of being a menopausal woman, yet the two are intimately intertwined, for the image determines how menopausal women see themselves and how they are seen in the wider society. The final section of the paper discusses how health is the new virtue for women as they age as each individual is held responsible for what happens to her body, particularly in terms of the decisions made at the time of menopause.

Medicalization of women's third age.

Extensive cross-cultural and comparative research reveals that the majority of women do not find the menopausal transition a difficult time. This research also shows considerable variation in symptom reporting at the end of menstruation. It is argued that socio/cultural variables, including language usage and expectations about the menopausal experience, do not fully account for these differences, and that biological variation must also be taken into account. In those societies where subjective reporting of symptoms, including vasomotor symptoms, is low, such findings should not be dismissed as the result of learned cultural expectations that mask reality.

Margaret Lock

Papers

Genetic Diversity and the Politics of Difference

Postgenomics, uncertain futures, and the familiarization of susceptibility genes.

The message in the bottle illness and the micropolitics of resistance

Medicalization of women's third age.

Symptom reporting at menopause: a review of cross-cultural findings.