The Implications of Technological Change for Folk and Scientific Medicine¹

Abstract

LTHOUGH much current anthropological research is being concentrated A on the problem of cultural change along the axes between the folk and urban ways of life, between the developed and the underdeveloped peoples, between the literate and the nonliterate, etc., very little material has been obtained from the zone of interaction between so-called primitive and so-called scientific forms of medical practice as an aspect of the more general interaction between scientific and primitive technology. Some general work has been done in the area of primitive medicine, usually focused on its functional role in a particular cultural context (Ackerknecht

Changing food and medical beliefs and practices in a Guatemalan community† ‡

“…Several studies have supported the hypothesis that interaction between indigenous or "traditional" and Western or "modern" medical systems, despite differences between the two systems, can be of a primarily positive nature rather than one of conflict (Shiloh, 1968;Nash, 1967;Gould, 1957;Erasmus, 1952). One aspect of such positive interaction is the accomodation or integration of new information from Western medicine into the indigenous system.…”

maladie et ses dispositifs

“…Les systèmes profanes de soins, en dehors de quelques pratiques spécialisées (l'arrachage de dents, notamment), ne savent pas agir contre la douleur. Il s'ensuit que les populations utilisent préférentiellement la "médecine traditionnelle" pour "des dysfonctionnements chroniques non invalidants", socialement handicapants mais dont la douleur est supportable, alors que la médecine moderne est recherchée dans les domaines où elle est manifestement plus efficace aux yeux des villageois, c'est à dire dans la prise en charge des maladies aiguës : pour des "dysfonctionnements invalidants critiques" (Gould 1957). En fait, l'usage de chaque système est en grande partie déterminée par sa capacité concrète à obtenir des résultats.…”

Understanding Medical Systems: Traditional, Modern, and Syncretic Health Care Alternatives in Medically Pluralistic Societies

“…Such a dichotomous view of health care systems has a long history of acceptance by workers in international health and medical anthropology. Gould's (1957) recognition of a dualism of treatment options in India, along with Foster's (1958) observance of a similar pattern in Latin America, gave early support to the concept that traditional and modern medical practices constitute separate and alternative systems of health care. More recently, work by Dunn (1976) has suggested that "traditional Asian medicine and cosmopolitan medicine" are distinct, essentially independent systems of health care that coexist within, and provide essential services to, the citizens of modern Asian nations.…”