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Resumo

Folk medicine is generally treated as a residue from pre‐scientific times. This article discusses contemporary folk medical practices and locates them firmly in postmodern economy and society. The central theme is that recent transformations in the economy have been paralleled by changes in cultural practices. This is manifest in the increased general awareness of 'green' issues and the rejection of 'modernism' in all its forms including the industrialised therapies of biomedicine which are seen to exacerbate rather than resolve public health problems. It is argued that popular dissatisfaction with biomedicine has increased and that the cultural gap between biomedical practitioners and their patients has become much more visible in recent times. This has contributed greatly to the secular expansion of folk therapies throughout western society. Finally, the article notes the gaps in current research into alternative medical practices and practitioners.

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