Reflections on the Health Social Sciences—Then and Now

Abstract

After its beginnings in the United States, medical sociology started to take hold in Germany in 1958 with a conference that resulted in the first book on medical sociology published in Germany. From uneasy marginality, the field has grown to include disciplines other than sociology—anthropology, economics, and political economy. Today, the field might best be called the “health social sciences.” The main body of work employs the consensual perspective, but work done using a class conflict perspective is increasingly significant.