ABSTRACT
This chapter is a sociological analysis of the relationship between two important social movements in healthcare: the continued rise in demand for and patronage of the services of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) on the one hand, and of evidence-based medicine/health services (EBM) on the other. It concentrates in particular on the implications and challenges of one (EBM) for the other (CAM), utilising the concept of legitimacy as a theoretical tool for analysis of these social processes in the unfolding of healthcare provision in general and in Australian society in particular. First though, it is necessary to review the rise of each of these social movements.
