The anthropology of pharmaceuticals: A biographical approach

Author(s): Whyte, S. R., Hardon, A.

Journal/Book: Annu Rev Anthropol. 1996; 25: 4139 El Camino Way, PO Box 10139, Palo Alto, CA 94303-0139. Annual Reviews Inc. 153-178.

Abstract: This review discusses pharmaceuticals as social and cultural phenomena by following their ''life cycle'' from production, marketing, and prescription to distribution, purchasing, consumption, and finally their efficacy. Each phase has its own particular context, actors, and transactions and is characterized by different sets of values and ideas. The anthropology of pharmaceuticals is relevant to medical anthropology and health policy. It also touches the heart of general anthropology with its long-time interest in the concepts of culture vs nature, symbolization and social transformation, and its more recent concerns with the cultural construction of the body and processes of globalization and localization. The study of transactions and meanings of pharmaceuticals in diverse social settings provides a particularly appropriate empirical base for addressing these new theoretical issues.

Note: Review S Vandergeest, Univ Amsterdam, Med Antrhopol Unit, Oudezijds Achterburgwal 185, NL-1012 Dk Amsterdam, Netherlands

Keyword(s): medical anthropology; pharmaceuticals; drugs; applied anthropology; ORAL REHYDRATION THERAPY; PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA; SELF-MEDICATION; SRI-LANKA; DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES; WESTERN PHARMACEUTICALS; SOCIAL-RELATIONS; ESSENTIAL DRUGS; MODERN MEDICINE

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