Is It Possible for Critical Social Sciences to Trespass the Biomedical Sciences Bunker in a Neoliberal Era?

Abstract

The biomedical scientific institution is one principal cogwheel for the meanings construction neoliberal machine. Despite the official recognition of the social determinants of disease by the medical institution, critical social sciences are not taken seriously in this field where the tolerated social sciences paradigm is positivistic, looking for biological answers and 'hard' evidence to embodied social problems. In this paper I look at the chances of critical social sciences to affect the medical field in present neoliberal context. I argue that, at present time, it seems not possible for a progressive critical social sciences to effectively penetrate the medical field. This is not to say that critical social sciences have not chance at all to penetrate the health culture. I sketch then some possibilities to penetrate the health culture pinpointing out the role of Qualitative Inquiry in this quest.