COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS, MARCH 2012
Modern Forms of Boundary Work in Defense of Science
Because the rejection of medical science has adverse implications for public health—as evidenced by unnecessary AIDS deaths and declining vaccination rates—this cultural tolerance for alternative medicine has not gone unchallenged, especially in the Internet era. In the past, those wishing to explore the cultic milieu and related alternative lifestyles did so primarily by subscribing to print editions of alternative healing magazines such as Mothering—the magazine that featured a cover photograph of Christine Maggiore with “No AZT” emblazoned on her pregnant abdomen. Today, like many other fringe publications, Mothering no longer produces a print edition. Consumers of alternative health services now surf the Internet like everyone else. In so doing, they will encounter alternative websites by the ...
