Individualism vs. Communalism in Health ANTH 3301 Health, Healing & Ethics Prof. Smith-Morris

Individualism / Communalism Binary opposition between individualism and communalism Individualism: person-centered view of morality and the world Communalism: group-focused view of morality and an integrated world

Individualism / Communalism Discourses on human rights – IDHR – ICESCR – ICCPR Legal focus on patient autonomy – Four Principles Approach

Key terms Universal Declaration of Human Rights  Every man and woman  Born free and equal  Dignity  Reason and conscience  Regardless off  Freedom and safety  Slavery  Torture  Legal protection, Fair and public trial  Jail or Exile  Innocent until proven guilty  Privacy  Movement  Freedom from persecution  The right to marry and have a family  Property  Thought and religion  Vote for your government  Develop  Work, fair wage, reasonable hours  A decent standard of living  Education  Respect the social order necessary for protection of rights (yours and others)

Key terms International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Highest attainable standard of health Work Social security Adequate food, clothing, housing Education To enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications Solidarity Rights

Key terms International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights Life Liberty Security of Person Freedom of Movement Torture Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Arbitrary Arrest and Detention

Where society intrudes on the individual: Public health campaigns Laws that restrict rights Schooling Roads, airports, public utilities GMO’s, cash crops (e.g., corn and meat) Where synergies and dependencies exist: Social capital and networks Organ and blood banks Taxation and welfare Individualism / Communalism Exercise #2: Social Capital Interviews Exercise #1: List Expansion

Interests of Medical Anthropology Person as vehicle Transmission of culture Person engaged as critical agent Kuczewski (anthropological approach to the Common Morality) Community Consent/Participatory Models – Smith-Morris article – Gruenbaum article Exercise #3: Visiting Hours/Rules

Poles on a Continuum Erasure of community in certain contemporary practices of biomedicine

Perspectives on the Person Western Philosophical Traditions Klukohn and Strodtbeck (1961) Individualist-collectivist continuum as a measure of cultural variability Marcel Mauss (1938) Person as role Marilyn Strathern (1988) Indivisibility and divisibility

Impacts of the Polarized Conception 1.Rights not to choose abridged 2.Biopsychosocial (psychoneuroimmunological) harm 3.Medicalization of ignorance (sterlization of context) 4.Epidemics of individual choice

Globesity: Fat’s New Frontier