Med Anthropol Q. 1996 Dec; 10(4): 657-74.

Technology and alternative cancer therapies: an analysis of heterodoxy and constructivism.

Hess DJ.

Science and Technology Studies Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA. hessd@rpi.edu

Theories of the construction of technology are reviewed from the wider interdisciplinary conversation known as science and technology studies (STS) and from the growing field of the anthropology of science and technology. These theories are used to contribute to research situated at the intersection of the anthropology of alternative medicine and of medical technologies. Cases drawn from the research tradition on microbial theories of cancer are considered to show how unorthodox medical theories become embedded in technologies through choices in microscope design and treatment technologies. In turn, the technologies contribute to the heterodox standing of the researchers, their research, and their therapies.