Is there a European medical sociology?

Is there a European sociology of health, illness, and medicine – or, in short, a European medical sociology? A survey of the field conducted just 30 years ago delivered a rather frustrating answer to this question (Claus 1982). Not only was the sociological investigation of health, illness, and medicine notably underdeveloped in Europe in comparison to the US, and in fact nonexistent in many European countries, but also throughout the continent research was conducted in an uncoordinated manner. To the extent that there were sociologists interested in health issues in Europe, then one would have spoken of different European medical sociologies. However, the situation has significantly changed since that period. While wide variations remain in research practices across Europe, the sociological analysis of health, illness, and medicine has significantly strengthened almost everywhere. Thanks to its strong commitment to empirical research while remaining engaged with major theoretical issues, medical sociology has developed into a distinctive way of doing sociology that has today gained strong recognition within both academic circles and medical, governmental, and policy institutions. Even more significantly, over the last two decades, a series of new analyses have emerged in the field, which, we will argue, have also laid the groundwork for a medical sociology at the European level.