The ideological subordination of the Andean Medical Knowledge in Chilean Intercultural Health

Abstract

There are few studies that address the ideological processes present in the intercultural relations fostered by the Indigenous Peoples Health initiatives in Chile. Our objective is to show how the ideological elements of Biomedical Knowledge contribute to the subordination of Andean Knowledge within these programs. For this, we will exhibit ethnographic material produced between 2011 and 2012 in the community of Camiña, Tarapacá. Positioned from the Critical Medical Anthropology, we analyze the biomedical ideology on the Andean Knowledge, as well as the proposals for the interculturality that arise from the biomedical personnel. We conclude by reflecting on how the denial of the ideological character of biomedical rationality reinforces the subordination of Andean Knowledge, producing an adverse effect on public policy.