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Social History of Medicine 1996 9(2):267-276; doi:10.1093/shm/9.2.267
© 1996 by Society for the Social History of Medicine
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Review Article

The Medicalization of War—The Militarization of Medicine1

MARK HARRISON*

*Department of Historical Studies, Sheffield Hallam University

SUMMARY After many years of relative neglect, the military and militaristic aspects of medical practice are again beginning to receive historical attention. This review indicates some of the themes emerging from recent scholarship on medicine and war, and indicates some further areas for investigation. The two most fundamental issues arising from this scholarship relate to what might be termed, respectively, ‘the militarization of medicine’ and the ‘medicalization of war’. The former raises the question of to what extent modern medicine was affected by the militarization of many advanced industrial societies from the late nineteenth century, and by the experience of two World Wars.

The latter draws attention to the gradual incorporation of medicine within the armed forces, and the growing influence therein of medical experts; a process arguably essential to the prosecution of ‘modern’ mass warfare.

Keywords: medicalisation; militarisation; war; modern; metaphor

1I wish to thank Micheal Worboys for his helpful comments.


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