ETHNOLOGICAL STUDIES OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

A broad overview of ethnological (anthropological) methods and theory is presented historically and conceptually. Medical sciences are assumed to be socially produced and reproduced, and a cross-cultural perspectives helps us view them more objectively. Discussion is organized in a framework of general systems theory, and illustrated primarily from recent literature on childbirth. Linkages and communication between different levels of systems: patient, profession, society and ecology, focus on interaction between levels, much of which is ritualized and political.