A sociological approach to the study of alternative and complementary medicine in Argentina

Abstract

In this chapter, we present a body of empirical research we have conducted on the practice, utilization, and diffusion of alternative and complementary medicines (CAM), attending to the theoretical debates into which they are framed. We incorporate theoretical approaches from the medical sociology and the sociology of professions to study the field of Acupuncture practice. We analyze the legitimation processes and strategies followed by specialists to institutionalize their practices in a context of biomedical dominance and high occupational competition. Also from a constructivist view, we study how medical doctors trained in CAM build their professional identity and develop their clinical practice. In interview studies with CAM users, we draw on theoretical approaches that point to pragmatism, pluralism, and critical attitudes toward the biomedical model in late modernity to explain utilization. While in focus groups with users and non-users of CAM we show how they allocate credibility to, and build trust in, different offerings and specialists. Finally, we analyze the role of the newspaper coverage of Ayurveda amidst the increasing global dissemination and commoditization of Oriental medicines.