UNSPECIFIED (1996) The 'limits' of medicalization?: Modern medicine and the lay populace in 'late' modernity. SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE, 42 (12). pp. 1609-1620. ISSN 0277-9536

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Abstract

Taking as its point of departure the medicalization thesis and its limitations, this paper provides a critical discussion of certain more recent theoretical perspectives on life in contemporary society, and their relevance for understanding the relationship between modern medicine and the lay populace. In particular, attention is paid to the contours and existential parameters of life in 'late' modernity in terms of the following four key themes: (i) modernity as a 'reflexive' social order; (ii) 'risk' and the dialectic of scientific and social rationality; (iii) the 'mediation' of contemporary experience; and (iv) lay 're-skilling' and the 'life political' agenda. On the basis of this, it is argued that far from being simply passive and dependent, a 'critical distance' is beginning to emerge between modern medicine-and the lay populace; a situation which resonates with broader social trends and currents within society at large. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences
Journal or Publication Title:	SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE
Publisher:	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
ISSN:	0277-9536
Date:	June 1996
Volume:	42
Number:	12
Number of Pages:	12
Page Range:	pp. 1609-1620
Publication Status:	Published
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/18769

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