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Medicalization and pharmaceuticalization at the intersections: Looking backward, sideways and forward

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  • Bell, Susan E.
  • Figert, Anne E.

Abstract

Medicalization studies have changed dramatically in the past decade in part due to the increased attention to the role of pharmaceuticals and the pharmaceutical industry in modern life. This review paper explores the relationship between the concepts of medicalization and the newly developed terms of pharmaceuticalization and the pharmaceuticalization of public health. We show how and why modernist thinking limits the terms' utility to explain a world in which both modern and postmodern objects and people interact with each other. We provide a framework for reconceptualizing and empirically studying these key processes of the 21st century.

Suggested Citation

  • Bell, Susan E. & Figert, Anne E., 2012. "Medicalization and pharmaceuticalization at the intersections: Looking backward, sideways and forward," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(5), pages 775-783.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:75:y:2012:i:5:p:775-783
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.04.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ebeling, Mary, 2011. "'Get with the Program!': Pharmaceutical marketing, symptom checklists and self-diagnosis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(6), pages 825-832, September.
    2. Conrad, Peter & Mackie, Thomas & Mehrotra, Ateev, 2010. "Estimating the costs of medicalization," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(12), pages 1943-1947, June.
    3. Padamsee, Tasleem Juana, 2011. "The pharmaceutical corporation and the 'good work' of managing women's bodies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(8), pages 1342-1350, April.
    4. Busfield, Joan, 2010. "'A pill for every ill': Explaining the expansion in medicine use," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 934-941, March.
    5. Bell, Susan E., 1987. "Changing ideas: The medicalization of menopause," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 535-542, January.
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