Medicine, Risk, Discourse and Power

253 Pages·2016·3.41 MB·English

by  John Martyn Chamberlain (ed.)

Medicine, Risk, Discourse and Power
This book critically explores from a comparative international perspective
the role medicine plays in constructing and managing natural and social
risks, including those belonging to modern medical technology and exper-
tise. Drawing together chapters written by professional practitioners and
social scientists from the UK, South America, Australia and Europe, the
book offers readers an insightful and thought-provoking analysis of how
modern medicine has transformed our understanding of both ourselves and
the world around us; but in so doing, it has arguably failed to fully recog-
nize and account for its unintended and negative effects. This is an essential
read for social scientists, practitioners and policy makers who want to better
understand how they can develop new ways of thinking about how modern
medicine can promote social goods and enhance public health.
John Martyn Chamberlain is Associate Professor in Medical Criminology at
the University of Southampton.
Routledge Advances in Sociology
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit www.routledge.com
136 Advances in Biographical 141 The Re-Use of Urban Ruins
Methods Atmospheric Inquiries of the City
Creative Applications Hanna Katharina Göbel
Edited by Maggie O’Neill,
Brian Roberts and Andrew 142 Reproductive Tourism in the
Sparkes United States
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137 Social Cohesion and Country
Immigration in Europe and Lauren Jade Martin
North America
Mechanisms, Conditions and 143 The Bohemian Ethos
Causality Questioning Work and Making a
Edited by Ruud Koopmans, Scene on the Lower East Side
Bram Lancee and Merlin Judith R. Halasz
Schaeffer
144 Critical Theory and
138 Digital Publics Social Media
Cultural Political Economy, Between Emancipation and
Financialization and Creative Commodification
Organizational Politics Thomas Allmer
John Michael Roberts
145 Socio-Cultural Mobility and
139 Ideology and the Fight Against Mega-Events
Human Trafficking Ethics and Aesthetics in Brazil’s
Reyhan Atasü-Topcuoğlu 2014 World Cup
Rodanthi Tzanelli
140 Rethinking Serial Murder,
Spree Killing, and Atrocities 146 Seeing Religion
Beyond the Usual Distinctions Toward a Visual Sociology of
Robert Shanafelt and Nathan Religion
W. Pino Edited by Roman Williams
147 European Citizenship and 156 The Geography of Nostalgia
Social Integration in the EU Global and Local Perspectives on
Jürgen Gerhards and Holger Modernity and Loss
Lengfeld Alastair Bonnett
148 International Migration and 157 Transnational Students and
Ethnic Relations Mobility
Critical Perspectives Lived Experiences of Migration
Edited by Magnus Dahlstedt and Hannah Soong
Anders Neergaard
158 Aging in Contexts of Migration
149 Stigma and the Shaping of the Edited by Ute Karl and Sandra
Pornography Industry Torres
Georgina Voss
159 Twentieth Century Population
150 Religious Identity and Social Thinking
Change A Critical Reader of Primary
Explaining Christian conversion Sources
in a Muslim world Edited by Population Knowledge
David Radford Network
151 God, Politics, Economy 160 The Synchronization of
Social Theory and the Paradoxes National Policies
of Religion Ethnography of the Global Tribe
Bülent Diken of Moderns
Pertti Alasuutari
152 Lifestyles and Subcultures
History and a New Perspective 161 Retail and the Artifice of Social
Luigi Berzano and Carlo Change
Genova Steven Miles
153 Comedy and Social Science 162 Theorizing Social Memories
Towards a Methodology Concepts and Contexts
of Funny Edited by Gerd Sebald and
Cate Watson Jatin Wagle
154 Sociology of Economic 163 Addiction, Modernity, and
Innovation the City
Francesco Ramella A Users’ Guide to Urban Space
Christopher B.R. Smith
155 Mobility, Modernity and
the Slum 164 Medicine, Risk, Discourse
The Real and Virtual Journeys of and Power
‘Slumdog Millionaire’ Edited by John Martyn
Rodanthi Tzanelli Chamberlain
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Medicine, Risk, Discourse
and Power
Edited by John Martyn Chamberlain
First published 2016
by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Medicine, risk, discourse and power / edited by John Martyn Chamberlain.
p. ; cm. — (Routledge advances in sociology ; 164)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
I. Chamberlain, John Martyn, 1972– , editor. II. Series: Routledge
advances in sociology ; 164.
[DNLM: 1. Medicine. 2. Risk. 3. Sociological Factors. WB 100]
R729.8
610—dc23 2015025795
ISBN: 978-0-415-50269-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-65874-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
1 An Introduction to Medicine, Risk, Discourse and Power 1
JOHN MARTYN CHAMBERLAIN
2 Sociology and Risk: A Link in Permanent (Re)Construction 25
FIORELLA MANCINI
3 Time, Risk and Health 52
ANDY ALASZEWSKI AND PATRICK BROWN
4 Using Medicines in the Face of Uncertainty: Developing a
Habermasian Understanding of Medicines’ Lifeworlds 76
PATRICK BROWN
5 Performing Risk and Power: Predictive Technologies
in Personalized Medicine 100
NADAV EVEN CHOREV
6 Balancing Risk and Recovery in Mental Health: An Analysis
of the Way in Which Policy Objectives Around Risk
and Recovery Affect Professional Practice in England 120
JEREMY DIXON
7 Moving From Gut Feeling to Evidence: The Case
of Social Work 141
GEMMA MITCHELL
8 Regulating for Safer Doctors in the Risk Society 162
JOHN MARTYN CHAMBERLAIN
9 Health Experts Challenge the Safety of Pesticides
in Argentina and Brazil 179
RENATA MOTTA AND FLORENCIA ARANCIBIA
viii Contents
10 Changing Discourses of Risk and Health Risk: A Corpus
Analysis of the Usage of Risk Language in the
New York Times 207
JENS O. ZINN AND DANIEL MCDONALD
Contributors 241
1 An Introduction to Medicine,
Risk, Discourse and Power
John Martyn Chamberlain
INTRODUCTION
The study of modern medicine and the high levels of public trust and social
status afforded to it, along with the economic and cultural rewards associ-
ated with this state of affairs, has long preoccupied social scientists. Over
the last hundred years or so, sociologists have considered the causes and
consequences of medical power within society, and more lately, they have
considered its decline or, at the very least, just what new form it is trans-
forming into. One particularly important element of this corpus of study
has been the consideration of the rhetorical role played by medical knowl-
edge and technology, alongside the diverse forms of clinical expertise which
emerge as a result of its application in the health-care diagnosis and treat-
ment context, in promoting risk identification and appraisal discourses
that can serve to either promote or inhibit patient control over the medical
encounter. Another body of literature linked to this considers the role played
by medical discourse and power in enabling and legitimizing the greater sur-
veillance and disciplinary control of populations, be they law abiding and
healthy or otherwise. As this chapter will reinforce, both these viewpoints,
along with the recognition of the practical value of medical knowledge and
expertise for promoting public health and social welfare and community
cohesion, are necessary for a fully developed understanding to emerge of the
important social role medicine plays in enhancing our lives, both individu-
ally and collectively.
Although as we shall see, this has not always been the case; few sociolo-
gists today would consider medicine’s role in transforming how we can live
a healthy life to be beyond critique. It is the purpose of this book to con-
tribute to the academic study of medicine through exploring the application
of medical discourse and power through the lens of risk in various national
contexts; including, Europe, the US and South America. In doing so, the
authors collectively hope to elucidate the similarities and subtle differences
which exist internationally in order to advance our understanding of the
complex social role played by medicine internationally. In this chapter,
I seek to set the scene for this by providing the reader with an introduction