, APY2602 Assignment 2
Semester 2 2025
DUE September 2025
Use this document as a guide and for references to answer your assignment
(Two essays provided)
The Relevance of Medical Anthropology in Understanding Health,
Healing, and Medical Systems in Western and Indigenous Societies
Introduction
Medical anthropology, also known as the anthropology of health, is a subfield of
anthropology that examines how cultural beliefs, social structures, and historical
contexts shape the way people understand health, illness, and healing. Unlike
biomedicine, which often assumes universality in its definitions and treatments,
medical anthropology emphasizes that perceptions of illness and approaches to
healing are culturally constructed and socially embedded. The statement that one of
its key functions is to question the conventional and universal value of biomedicine
highlights this critical role. By situating biomedicine alongside indigenous and
alternative systems, medical anthropology expands our understanding of health and
healing beyond the Western biomedical framework.
This essay discusses the relevance of medical anthropology in understanding
health, healing, and medical systems in both Western and indigenous contexts.
Drawing on theoretical perspectives and case studies, it explores how medical
anthropology highlights the strengths and limitations of biomedicine, examines the
role of cultural beliefs in illness narratives, and demonstrates how plural medical
systems coexist and interact.
Questioning Biomedicine as a Universal System
Biomedicine is often presented as objective, scientific, and universally valid.
However, medical anthropology shows that biomedicine is also a cultural system
shaped by Western history, values, and power structures. For instance, the emphasis
on technology, laboratory evidence, and individual pathology reflects Western
ideals of rationality, progress, and individualism.
Semester 2 2025
DUE September 2025
Use this document as a guide and for references to answer your assignment
(Two essays provided)
The Relevance of Medical Anthropology in Understanding Health,
Healing, and Medical Systems in Western and Indigenous Societies
Introduction
Medical anthropology, also known as the anthropology of health, is a subfield of
anthropology that examines how cultural beliefs, social structures, and historical
contexts shape the way people understand health, illness, and healing. Unlike
biomedicine, which often assumes universality in its definitions and treatments,
medical anthropology emphasizes that perceptions of illness and approaches to
healing are culturally constructed and socially embedded. The statement that one of
its key functions is to question the conventional and universal value of biomedicine
highlights this critical role. By situating biomedicine alongside indigenous and
alternative systems, medical anthropology expands our understanding of health and
healing beyond the Western biomedical framework.
This essay discusses the relevance of medical anthropology in understanding
health, healing, and medical systems in both Western and indigenous contexts.
Drawing on theoretical perspectives and case studies, it explores how medical
anthropology highlights the strengths and limitations of biomedicine, examines the
role of cultural beliefs in illness narratives, and demonstrates how plural medical
systems coexist and interact.
Questioning Biomedicine as a Universal System
Biomedicine is often presented as objective, scientific, and universally valid.
However, medical anthropology shows that biomedicine is also a cultural system
shaped by Western history, values, and power structures. For instance, the emphasis
on technology, laboratory evidence, and individual pathology reflects Western
ideals of rationality, progress, and individualism.
