The Meaning of Health: Anthropology of Life Policies

Abstract

In this chapter, excerpt from the book "Antropologie médicale. Ancrages locaux, défis globaux", Didier Fassin shows the lines of force of what he calls "the territory of the Anthropology of health". It proposes to theoretically and empirically exceed the field of classical medical anthropology, reflecting on some questions concerning political and moral questions, for the development of an "anthropology of the politics of life". From several examples, in particular the analysis of the dual mechanism of production and social construction of child lead poisoning in France shows how this perspective allows a critical approach to the new forms of health or humanitarian legitimacy that seem to prevail in detriment of others in local areas of public health, as in the global scenes of humanitarian action, where moral, economic and political economies counter-balance decisions with respect to human lives.

Translation of the article "Le sens de la santé. Anthropologie des politiques de la vie" by Didier Fassin

Translator Violetta Cesanelli in collaboration with Tomás Kierszenowicz and Susana Margulies (Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Originally published in Francine Saillant y Serge Genest (dir.), Anthropologie médicale. Ancrages locaux, défis globaux. Capítulo 14, pp. 383-399. Québec: Les Presses de l’Université Laval; París: Anthropos, 2005, 467 pp.

Available in "Les classiques des sciences sociales", digital library founded and directed by Jean-Marie Tremblay, professor of sociology at Cégep de Chicoutimi. Website: http://classiques.uqac.ca/ In collaboration with the Bibliothèque Paul-Émile-Boulet de la Université du Québec à Chicoutimi. Website: http://bibliotheque.uqac.ca/