ABSTRACT
The biomedicalization process becomes one which is more fully in line with market interests, such as the beverage industry in the US, that historically has not been supportive of social policy reforms that affect the population at-large such as increasing taxes or limiting access and availability. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides the larger context of this pervasive phenomenon termed biomedicalization and describes how this process developed and has been experienced and expressed in the diverse fields of aging, psychiatry/mental health, and women’s health. It introduces the area of alcohol studies as a specific, in-depth case study. The book provides multiple examples of how NIAAA’s movement to NIH crystallized NIAAA’s organizational and political identity as a biomedical agency.
