HSSC 532 Medicalization: Theory and History
Cross-listed as HIST 534, SOCI 513
Offered:Spring 2008
Linker W 2-5
Almost every book on the history and sociology of twentieth-century medicine invokes the term “medicalization.” We are told that everything from childbirth and allergies to hyperactivity and hospitals have become dominated by the medical profession and its explanation of health and illness. This course traces the history of the medicalization thesis, from its beginnings with Michel Foucault and Ivan Illich to its latest articulation put forth by sociologist Peter Conrad. Once we are accustomed to the multiple meanings of medicalization, we will put them each under scrutiny, borrowing from literature in the history of religion (a subfield that has grappled with the predominance of the secularization thesis, a theory very much akin to medicalization), as well as from the history of the body. In short, the goal of this course is to read current works in the history of medicine in order problematize the theory of medicalization.
Syllabus
