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Journal Article
|Commentary

Anthropological approaches to medical humanitarianism

Beshar I, Stellmach DUS

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Abstract
Despite broadly shared interest in the welfare of ‘precarious lives’, medical anthropology and medical humanitarianism are too often in tension. In this survey, we sketch a history of the two disciplines, then track three major patterns through which anthropologists approach the analysis of medical humanitarian efforts. Our three patterns frame medical anthropology as: 1) a critique of medical humanitarianism and its ties to colonialism and globalization, 2) a translation of medical humanitarianism and its associated lexicon, 3) and a reform of medical humanitarianism from the inside out. In highlighting the individual strengths of these three approaches, we argue for the value of medical anthropology – as both a mindset and a method – in health and humanitarian emergencies.

Languages

English
DOI
10.17157/mat.4.5.477
Published Date
15 Dec 2017
Journal
Medicine Anthropology Theory
Volume | Issue | Pages
Volume 4, Issue 5
Issue Date
2017-12-15
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Anthropological approaches to medical humanitarianism | Journal Article / Commentary | MSF Science Portal