Medical Technology and the Social: How Medical Technology Is Impacting Social Relations, Institutions, and Beliefs about What Is Normal - Hardcover

by Kathryn Burrows (Contribution by), Misria Shaik Ali (Contribution by), Amber Nicole Brooks (Contribution by)

Medical Technology and the Social: How Medical Technology is Impacting Social relations, Institutions, and Beliefs about what is Normal explores the intersection of society and medical technology to examine how medical technology impacts our day-to-day lives. The contributors examine a variety of technologies and their impact on the social world, from older technologies such as the use of fax machines in hospitals to cutting-edge technologies such as Bluetooth-enabled smart pills. Underlying each chapter is a consideration of what is "normal", investigating such themes as power and social control, diffusion of technology, eco-crip theory, the changing role of medical expertise, the embodiment of the fetus in utero, the history of prosthetics, and how technology has reformed conceptions of a "normal" body.

Author Biography

Kathryn Burrows is assistant professor of sociology at Madonna University and an independent scholar.