[1] Culture:

- No single, uncontested definition

- Human experience is inseparable from the systems of meanings, values, and norms within which it occurs.

[2] Society (more formal concept):

- Patterns of organization of a body of people, including family, government, educational institutions, etc.

- Social structure: a network of social relations. Can include social roles (social classes, professional roles, etc.), relationships, etc.

- Social institutions: standardized modes of behavior.

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[3] Interpretive vs Critical Approaches

Interpretive Medical Anthropology emphasizes cultural dimensions of illness experience. “Meaning” approach, characterizing the culture/meanings/norms/symbols of the medicine.

Critical Medical Anthropology emphasizes social contexts of illness, including social inequality. Investigate health, illness, and the body in the political and economic contexts (society/social structures/social institutions). Argue that focusing on culture is a form of the moral relativism.

Critical Medical Anthropology?talks about the culture as the objective social condition.

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Social-Cultural Interpretation

Need to understand relationship between social organization and systems of meaning. Without understanding culture, miss the sense of how our ideas about medicine and illness communicate important meanings; without studying social relationship, miss things like social inequality, class differences, unequal access to medicine, unequal exposure to pollutes, or other causes of diseases based on political or social contexts or processes, such as class, gender, race, citizenship, etc., that creates the health situations.

Eg traditional gender roles: men are more expected work & make income; women are more expected to do housework - social features (relationship & behavior) expected by the society.

Typical characteristics: Women are more passive, sensitive; men are more bold, analytical - cultural ideas that go along with / justify the social features

Cultural ideas sometimes support & justify social orders.