Quackademia? Mass-Media Delegitimation of Homeopathy Education
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Abstract
In response to concerns about the standards of training for non-medically qualified \nhomeopathic practitioners, between 1999 and 2009 a number of UK universities taught \nBachelor of Science (BSc) degrees in homeopathy. All the courses were subsequently \nclosed following media coverage of a vigorous campaign from scientists against the \ndegree courses. A boundary-work analysis of 65 articles published in the UK print \nmedia reveals the use of metaphors from a number of different fields as rhetorical \nstrategies to malign homeopathy education. As well as the commonly used contrasts of \nprofit versus academic integrity, rationality versus faith and logic versus magic, media \nreports associated homeopathy with new universities and Mickey Mouse degrees, both \nof which had been denigrated in the press previously. In the press coverage, much \nattention was also drawn to the fact that the method of repeatedly diluting homeopathic \nmedicines defies both logic and common sense, and the plausibility argument became a \ndecisive blow in the debate over the legitimacy of teaching homeopathy as a science \ndegree. It seems that the boundary work sought to protect the authority of both science \nand medicine by expelling homeopathy from higher education. These findings contrast \nwith previous studies that suggest that orthodox medicine has occasionally expanded to \nincorporate desirable aspects of complementary and alternative therapies. Scientists \ncarry out boundary work not just to demarcate the boundaries of science and directly \ndefend their own interests, but also to protect the authority of other allied professions.