The social integration of complementary and alternative medicine in official health care in Russia

Abstract

This article examines the social integration of complementary and alternative medicine in official health care in Russia. In so doing, it considers the background to the development of complementary and alternative medicine linked to its cultural roots in Russia, including in the Soviet period. In charting its revival in official medicine from the 1980s to the present day, it draws on original survey and other data from a recent INTAS-funded research project on Russian doctors. The subject is approached from a neo-Weberian perspective, through which the operation of medical interests is analysed in the context of the evolving health marketplace and changing state policies. The article concludes by highlighting the implications of the political debates over integration for the social inclusion of complementary and alternative medicine and the citizenship of both its practitioners and users in Russia