Critical medical anthropology examines health-related issues in pre-capitalist indigenous and state societies, capitalist societies and post-revolutionary or socialist-oriented societies. While critical medical anthropology draws heavily on neo-Marxian, critical and world systems theoretical perspectives, it attempts to incorporate the theoretical contributions of other systems in medical anthropology, including biocultural or medical ecology, ethnomedical approaches, cultural constructivism, poststructuralism and postmodernism. The first part of the book provides the reader with a discussion of the central concepts in, and the development and scope of medical anthropology, as well as the critical perspective employed. The second part explores health and the environment as well as the social origins of specific health problems. The diversity of medical systems in different societies is highlighted in the third part. Finally, part four argues for a merger of theory and social action.