Summary
Contents
How do we understand health in relation to society? What role does culture play in shaping our experiences of, and orientation to, health and illness? How do we understand medicine and medical treatment within a sociological framework?
Social Movements and Health
Social Movements and Health
Social movements, including health movements, are‘(1) Informal networks, based on (2) shared beliefs and solidarity, which mobilise around (3) conflictual issues, through (4) the frequent use of various forms of protest’ (Delia Porta and Diani, 1999: 16).
The concept ‘social movements’ is used widely and in varying ways both within and outside of social science, not least by activists within social movements themselves. This variation in use makes it impossible to arrive at criteria which are both sufficiently inclusive and sufficiently exclusive to give a precise definition that is suited to all cases. Like ‘games’, as defined by Wittgenstein (1953), ‘social movements’ share ‘family resemblances’ and are clearly identifiable as such but also very difficult to pin down (Crossley, ...