Homeopathy, alternative medicine: Between counterculture, the new era, and formalization (Brazil, 1970s)

Abstract

The objective of this text is to analyze how homeopathy was conveyed to the lay public in Brazil during the 1970s, an important period in the process of legitimizing this practice as a medical specialty, which occurred in 1980. The sources analyzed (composed of articles that circulated in the Jornal do Brasil and books intended for the lay public) allow the reader to distinguish different interlocutors with various expectations of homeopathy, revealing a heterogeneous universe of understandings and uses for this medical system. At the same time, the sources establish a universe of representations present in the construction of homeopathy as alternative medicine, which is noticeable in its relationship with the counterculture movements and New Era in forming a “consuming public” for homeopathy.