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Social History of Medicine 1995 8(3):361-381; doi:10.1093/shm/8.3.361
© 1995 by Society for the Social History of Medicine
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Historial Perspectives

The Social Construction of Medical Knowledge

LUDMILLA JORDANOVA*

*Department of History, University of York York YO1 5DD

SUMMARY The paper examines some of the ways in which a social constructionist perspective may be useful for social historians of medicine. It outlines the streams of thought that, over the last twenty years or so, have contributed to this perspective. Some of the problems and issues raised by social constructionism are considered. The relationships between the history of science and the history of medicine are discussed in order to clarify the extent to which the latter can and should be modelled on the former. I suggest that social constructionism is useful, partly because it gives weight to ideas, and that there is a potentially fruitful alliance to be considered between the social history of medicine and cultural history.

Keywords: medical knowledge; historiography; social constructionism; social history; cultural history; medical ideas; methodology; history of medicine; history of science


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