The thesis argues that processes of contemporary social change, broadly defined as postmodernisation, are undermining the authority and practices of the medical profession. It focuses on the increasing use of alternative medicine, by orthodox medical practitioners, as a site of radical social change. The thesis employs the middle-range theory of Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky to explore changes in primary health at the institutional level. Data from interviews of health providers (n=50) and primary educational sources are used to provide empirical evidence of a significant challenge to the modernist medical hierarchy and its biomedical knowledge base. The evidence broadly supports the predictions of Douglas and Wildavsky, and those of the other macro-theorists associated with the study of globalisation and postmodernisation. Namely, contemporary society is characterised by a simultaneous shift of Centre to Periphery and vice versa. In the medical context, this has resulted in the increasing hybridisation and destabilisation of established forms of culture, knowledge and authority.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/254090 |
| Creators | Eastwood, Heather |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
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