Dependency Theory in the Political Economy of Health: An Anthropological Critique

TLDR

The political economy of health encompasses orthodox Marxist, cultural, and dependency perspectives, yet anthropologists have overemphasized dependency theories, which sociologists widely criticize. The article examines the premises, contributions, and limitations of dependency theories in the political economy of health and argues that political economy should learn from anthropology and vice versa. The author analyzes the premises, contributions, and limitations of dependency theories to assess their role in the political economy of health. The reciprocal integration of political economy and anthropology will yield a synthetic perspective on sickness and health.

Abstract

The political economy of health is a multifaceted label that subsumes at least three separate theoretical perspectives: orthodox Marxist approaches, cultural critiques of medicine, and dependency theories. Anthropologists who advocate greater attention to the political economy of health have tended to overemphasize dependency theories, which have in fact been widely assailed in the sociological literature. In this article I examine some basic premises of dependency theories and analyze their contributions and limitations for the development of theory in the political economy of health. I also maintain that political economy must learn from anthropology as well as the other way around. Through this reciprocal integration of concepts, political economic approaches will enter into regular medical anthropology to provide a synthetic new perspective on sickness and health.