Alternative Medicine in Britain

This collection of readings on alternative medicine in Britain fills a gap in the social scientific literature on alternative medicine, as social scientists have written relatively little on this highly topical subject in the British context. The book draws together both previously published and original commissioned work relevant to social scientists on the past, present, and future of alternative medicine in Britain, covering areas such as acupuncture, homeopathy, osteopathy and spiritual healing. Special reference is made to the professionalization of medicine, which is seen as having a crucial influence on the conceptual boundaries and destiny of alternative medicine in British society. This accessible and wide-ranging book will appeal not only to students of the social sciences but also to practising health professionals and the interested lay reader.Table of ContentMike Saks: Introduction; I. Health Care in Britain Before the Mid-Nineteenth Century: Christina Larner: Healing in Pre-industrial Britain; Ann Oakley: The Wisewoman and the Doctor; Peter Wright: Astrology in Seventeenth-century England; Eric Maple: The Great Age of Quackery; Terry Parssinen: Medical Mesmerists in Victorian Britain; II. The Rise of Medical Orthodoxy and the Development of Alternative Medicine: Phillip Nicholls: Homeopathy in Britain after the Mid-nineteenth Century; Mary Chamberlain: The Old Wife, Pregnancy, and Birth Control; Paul Vaughan: 'Secret Remedies' in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries; Gerald Larkin: Orthodoxy and Osteopathic Medicine in the Inter-war Years; Brian Inglis: Unorthodox Medicine after the Establishment of the National Health Service; III. Alternative Medicine in Modern Britain: Jill Vincent: Self-help Groups and Health Care in Contemporary Britain; Gillian Allen and Roy Wallis: Pentecostalists as a Medical Minority; Stephen Fulder: Alternative Therapists in Britain; Mike Saks: The Paradox of Incorporation: Acupuncture and the Medical Profession in Modern Britain; IV. Alternative Medicine: The Future: Ruth West: Alternative Medicine: Prospects and Speculations; British Medical Association: Report on Alternative Medicine; British Holistic Medical Association: Response to the British Medical Association Report; Tom Huggon and Alan Trench: Brussels post-1992: Protector or Persecutor?