Book review: Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective

In the August 2005 issue of The Australian Journal of Anthropology, Jocelyn Grace reviews the book “Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective” by Ann McElroy and Patricia Townsend. The review is interesting, especially because it addresses differences in regional traditions in anthropology.

The USA might be the only region (or one of the few) in the world where the evolutionary perspective plays a role in anthropology. Nevertheless, the authors claim:

Combined with evolutionary theory and field methodology, medical ecology has provided some key organizing principles for medical anthropology. Although no single approach ‘unites the field’, there is a ‘broad tacit consensus’ that ecology and evolution are core concepts.

Grace writes in her review:

Although this may be the case in the United States, it is certainly not true of medical anthropology in Australia. (…) Given its theoretical orientation, Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective is not a likely choice as a core text for teaching medical anthropology in Australia.

The same could be said about anthropology in Europe.

>> read the whole review