Suchergebnisse

A feminist historian of medicine recounts the efforts of early-20th-century women in science who spearheaded a research project detailing the history of medical women in the US. In 1925, the American Medical Women's National Assoc founded the Committee of the History of Medicine. Headed by Kate Hurd-Mead, who gave up a clinical practice to devote herself to research, the committee remained active until 1941, making the writing of history an important part of the political agenda of women physicians. It is contended that the fact their ambitious work has largely been ignored by male historians makes it historically & politically imperative to establish a history of feminist historians of science & medicine that acknowledges the symbolic & political roles played by feminist historians who documented feminine medical/scientific authority. It is suggested that reevaluating the historiographical project implemented by Hurd-Mead's committee within the historical context of a time when women were discouraged from becoming physicians places the experiences of these women at the core of the history of medicine. 26 References. J. Lindroth

Assesses postcommunist reforms of the health care professions in the Czech Republic. The socialist health care system in Czechoslovakia was characterized by state centralization, low pay, & low autonomy for doctors. Nursing was not defined as a profession, & its income was below the average industrial wage. Health care reform was made a major priority by the postcommunist government, with mandatory health insurance serving as the central topic in reform debates. Three successive reform documents, & initial steps in implementing them, have indicated that the state control will continue, despite the goal of privatization. Further, health professionals have played a minor role in the reform process. In comparison to their status in the communist system, health professionals have become more visible, but the state continues to dominate the health care system. 12 References. D. M. Smith

Examines the recent response of the British medical profession to acupuncture, one of the most subsidized therapies in the UK, in the context of wider relations between the professions, the state, & public interest. Through the 1970s, acupuncture was rejected by the medical profession as an unprofessional, irresponsible health practice. This reaction was in the self-interest of the profession, because it desired to retain its status & control over authoritative medical knowledge, despite the fact that acupuncture was based in a coherent medical tradition. The rejection was detrimental to the wider public interest, because it prevented its public provision. It might be assumed that the gradual & grudging acceptance of acupuncture on the part of doctors since the 1970s is a consequence of professional altruism, in which the profession's self-interest was subordinated to the public interest & spurred by external economic, cultural, & political pressures. 41 References. D. M. Smith

"The research interest of this study is the implications of design attributes of the nationwide public forum, launched by the BMBF and facilitated by IFOK through the Büro Bürgerdialog, on the quality of deliberation in this micro setting. This study aims to answer the following research question: 'To what extent is the design of the Citizen Summit on High-Tech Medicine conducive to successful deliberation?' An inquiry into varieties of participation and the nature of public deliberation and dialogue will guide the study of this question." (extract)

Examines diagnoses of neonatal jaundice, arguing that it is a self-correcting, developmental feature of newborns, & its treatment as a pediatric disorder serves to disrupt maternal bonding & nursing. Dominant cultural expectations of medicine deem anything outside the biomedical definition of "normal" as an indication of pathology. Medical elements of neonatal jaundice are explained, & the history of its treatment is traced in relation to development of the subspecialty of neonatology. Difficulties involved in doing neonatal research to determine risk potentials are discussed, along with the tendency of many clinicians to treat all babies who fall within a "zone of suspicion," rather than chance one disastrous outcome. As a result, the added burden of exaggerated pathology is placed on the newborn period. It is contended that the practice of medicine lacks a cultural perspective, & neonatal jaundice is an example of a constructed condition where social, historical, & cultural factors have combined to create both a disease & a medical/legal dilemma for doctors & parents. 45 References. J. Lindroth

Examines insights provided by feminist science studies into the complex & controversial issue of sexual difference. Varied definitions of "woman" are described, noting that women's studies has emphasized the "subjective & collective meanings of women & men as categories that have been constructed." However, it is maintained that discussions of what characterizes woman invariably include the matter of bodies, & of differences related to biological attributes. Feminist studies of science, medicine, & technology have tackled questions of how & by whom standards of differences are determined, & there is a serious need for the fruits of these discussions to be included in women's studies. Three scientific modules suggested for inclusion in women's studies curricula are: (1) sexual dimorphism; (2) human conception; & (3) HIV/AIDS. It is emphasized that critical considerations of science, technology, & medicine in their social contexts gives students the opportunity to shift abstract notions of "woman" to practical, specific productions of "femaleness.". 27 References. J. Lindroth

Argues that it is a universal property of the collective human body that it demands to be forgotten. A sociological analysis of this property of the collective body is discussed that inquires into two kinds of forces: those of fusion, which promote the fusion of bodies; & those of disjunction, which make the body discontinuous. Various methods of analyzing corporeal fusion are described, including network & time-space analyses, & psychic fusion & sociality techniques. Pain & disability are taken to be key indicators of the discontinuity of the body. While a sociology of the body is not outlined in detail, it is noted that the sociology of medicine is already well positioned to explore these issues. However, to do so would require this field to recognize itself as a sociology of medicine, & therefore to pay attention to the varied grammars of the body that are produced by the medical & therapeutic disciplines. 39 References. D. M. Smith

Der radikale Neopragmatist Richard Rorty war zeit seines Lebens ein vehementer Verteidiger der politischen Utopie. Als Liberaler hielt er an der Utopie einer globalen kasten- und klassenlosen Gesellschaft fest. Darüber hinaus hat er in "Kontingenz, Ironie und Solidarität" die antifundamentalistische Begründungsutopie einer idealen liberalen Gesellschaft entworfen. Der Beitrag rekonstruiert zunächst Rortys nachaufklärerischen Utopiebegriff als Basis seiner antifundamentalistischen Begründungsutopie. Im Fokus steht dann deren zentrale Figur, die liberale Ironikerin. Sie verkörpert das Ideal einer lebenspraktischen Balance zwischen privater Ironie und öffentlicher Solidarität. Mit ihr wird das Begründungsproblem in eine Identitätsfrage transformiert. Getreu John Deweys Motto "Pragmatism must take its own medicine" stellt der vierte Abschnitt die pragmatische Frage nach der Realisierungschance von Rortys transformativer Utopie. Zum Abschluss wird diskutiert, ob die Ironie in Zeiten der Unsicherheit noch eine Chance hat. (ICB2)

An exploration of "scientific motherhood" from the perspective of the everyday lives of women focuses on the negotiated meanings/uses of the discourse that forms women's relations to scientific authority. Emphasis is on negating the attitude toward science that implies women's victimization by medical discourse, as well as the notion that women accept the premise of medicine on its own terms. Rather, it is argued that scientific motherhood is a contradictory discourse shaped by relations of inequality. Data are drawn from an analysis of 38 lengthy interviews with African American & Jewish women who raised their children in the 1930s-1940s, presented in Medicalized Motherhood: Views from the Lives of African American and Jewish Women. The narratives reveal struggles between old & new practices, & disagreements about techniques for rearing healthy children that are structured by larger conflicts between social groups over status, boundaries, & acceptability. It is argued that women initiated medical discourse as a way to create motherhood within ethnoracial & class boundaries. Numerous quotations from the narratives are included. 29 References. J. Lindroth