Synopses & Reviews
Allopathy is often described as "western" medicine, the antithesis of homeopathy. Health and Medical Practice in Iran is an ethnographic investigation of how allopathic knowledge, theories and practice guidelines come to be understood and applied by native practitioners in a non-western context. Based on research among allopathic doctors in Iran, Loeffler describes how the system of allopathic medicine has adapted to indigenous explanations of health and disease and to the economic, social and religio-political realities framing contemporary Iranian life and culture. This approach simultaneously problematizes the view of allopathic medicine as a "western" entity exerting a hegemonic influence over non-western cultures and provides a rare glimpse of the complexities of life in modern Iran denied most western scholars. It is an essential supplement to the current anthropological literature on Iran.
Synopsis
Allopathy is often described as "western" medicine, the antithesis of homeopathy. Allopathy Goes Native is an ethnographic investigation of how allopathic knowledge, theories and practice guidelines come to be understood and applied by native practitioners in a non-western context. Based on research among allopathic doctors in Iran, Loeffler describes how the system of allopathic medicine has adapted to indigenous explanations of health and disease and to the economic, social and religio-political realities framing contemporary Iranian life and culture. This approach simultaneously problematizes the view of allopathic medicine as a "western" entity exerting a hegemonic influence over non-western cultures and provides a rare glimpse of the complexities of life in modern Iran denied most western scholars. It is an essential supplement to the current anthropological literature on Iran.
About the Author
Agnes Loeffler is Assistant Professor in Pathology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, New Hampshire.
Table of Contents
The Puzzle of the Native Practitioner of Allopathic Medicine * The Contexts of Fieldwork * Iranian Explanations for Ill Health * Key Concepts: Nature, Purity and Balance * Allopathy Goes Native * The Economic Context of Allopathic * Roots of Authority * The Connection of Elm to Medical Practice * Medical Knowledge and Islamic Ideals * Conclusion: Models and Motives in Medicine