Ethnocultural space and the symbolic negotiation of alternative as "cure"

ABSTRACT/RESUME This paper examines the ideological processes whereby ethnicity is implicated in the growing popularity of alternative medicine in North America. It is argued that while the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu is useful in this regard, in order to better understand this issue, ethnocultural factors are better conceived of, not as 'habitus' linked with the body, but rather as a Bourdieuvian 'field' located within social space where agents vie for symbolic capital and struggle over meanings. The concept of 'hybridity' as associated with postcolonial theorists such as Appadurai (1996) holds promise of complementing Bourdieu's work and thereby moving towards a fuller understanding of this issue. It is demonstrated that in an increasingly transnational world, hybridity becomes a mechanism whereby the habitus encodes novel cultural understandings relative to the ethnocultural field, thereby contributing to ideological reproduction. Examination of the ideological struggle between biomedicine and alternative medicine is used as an illustration of the utility of this reconceptualization of the Bourdieuvian framework and to demonstrate how this allows constitution of ethnicity as a dimension of social space in which cultural meanings, such as 'cure', are symbolically negotiated. In light of the weakening hegemony of biomedicine amid globalization, deterritorialization, and the hybridization of cultures, further research into the social processes and mechanisms whereby ethnocultural factors motivate the use of particular types of alternative medicine is warranted. Cet article examine les processus ideologiques par lesquels l'ethnicite est impliquee dans la popularite croissante de la medecine alternative en Amerique du nord. Je propose que, tandis que la theorie sociale de Pierre Bourdieu est utile a cet egard, afin de mieux comprendre cette question, des facteurs ethnoculturels sont mieux concus, non comme 'habitus' lies au corps, mais plutot comme un 'champ' Bourdieusien situe dans l'espace social et dans lequel des agents luttent pour le capital symbolique et combattent au sujet des significations. Le concept d' 'hybridite' (lie aux theoriciens postcoloniaux tels que Appadurai [1997]) peut etre le complement du travail de Bourdieu et mene ainsi a une meilleure comprehension de cette question. Dans un monde de plus en plus transnational, je demontre que l'hybridite devient un mecanisme par lequel l'habitus encode de nouvelles comprehensions culturelles relatives au champ ethnoculturel et contribue ainsi a la reproduction ideologique. J'examine la lutte ideologique entre la biomedecine et la medecine alternative comme illustration de l'utilite de cette reconceptualisation du cadre Bourdieusien et pour demontrer comment ceci permet la constitution de l'ethnicite comme une dimension de l'espace social dans lequel des significations culturelles telles que le 'traitement' sont negociees symboliquement. Avec l'affaiblissement de l'hegemonie de la biomedecine au milieu de la globalisation, la deterritorialisation et l'hybridation des cultures, les recherches sur les processus sociaux et les mecanismes par lesquels les facteurs ethnoculturels motivent l'utilisation des types particuliers de medecine alternative sont justifiees. INTRODUCTION Initially, sociology presents itself as a social topology. Thus, the social world can be represented as a space (with several dimensions) constructed on the basis of principles of differentiation or distribution constituted by the set of properties active within the social universe in question, i.e., capable of conferring strength, power within that universe, on their holder. Agents and groups of agents are thus defined by their relative positions with that space. (Bourdieu 1985, 723-24) It is better to die according to the rules than to recover against the rules. (Moliere L'Amour Medicin 1665) Following Pierre Bourdieu's death from cancer on 23 January 2002, sociology as a discipline has been afforded an opportunity to reflect upon the influence the famous French sociologist had on the social sciences in general and on sociology in particular. …

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