000 01392pab a2200157 454500
008 180718b1998 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100 _aGervais, Marie-Claude
245 _aHealth and identity: the case of the Chinese community in England
260 _c1998
300 _ap.709-29
520 _aSocial representations of health and illness are deeply intertwined with issues of cultural identity. People think of health and illness in relation to their social environment and cultural background. In this paper, we report findings of a study on representations of health among the Chinese community in England. Using focus groups and in-depth interviews with experts and lay members of the Chinese community, we found a hybrid representation which combines Chinese traditions and western biomedical knowledge. This mixed social representation is paradoxical: it both integrates and draws upon the differences inherent in the two knowledge systems. The contradictory nature of the representation is functional: it enables the community both to sustain/defend its cultural identity and to cope with the challenges posed by the bost environment. The findings are discussed in relation to the hybridization of identities in the context of globalization. - Reproduced
650 _aHealth services
700 _aJovchelovitch, Sandra
773 _aSocial Science Information
909 _a40785
999 _c40785
_d40785