Alternative Therapies in Latin America : Policies, Practices and Beliefs

This book addresses the phenomenon of alternative therapies in Latin America from the point of view of the social sciences by adopting sociological, anthropological, ethnographical, and historical perspectives. It gathers the most important and current discussions around the topic of alternative therapies. Different outlooks on alternative medicines are put into dialogue covering micro and macro aspects of the phenomenon. The chapters cover the phenomenon in three countries of great importance within the region such as Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. In the case of Argentina, it comprises cases of rural and urban areas. The authors who participate in this compilation are also well-known researchers in the field. They are stable members of the national research systems in their countries and active members of different groups devoted to the study of alternative therapies in sociological contexts, medical anthropology, and religions. The book provides a different outlook concerning traditional studies on Latin America; it includes in the debate the analysis of a phenomenon usually associated with the urban middle classes, to the context of pluricultural and multi-ethnic societies, where ethnic groups live together with Creoles and mestizos.