Workshop 33
Facing Distress.
Distance and Proximity in Times
of Illness
Convenors:
Els van Dongen,
University of Amsterdam
Armin Prinz, Medical
University, Vienna
Distance and proximity are
concepts par excellence to describe
what may happen in times of
illness and suffering. The possibility
of proximity of the sick
person and others manifests itself, but
the opposite will also
happen resulting in loneliness and feelings
of desolation. Nature and
quality of social relationships can be
caught in times of illness
and suffering. Illness raises questions
for all individuals who are
involved in the process concerning the
relationships between
individuals and between individuals and
society. In times of
illness, the sick individual will question his/ her
relationship with others
and being-in-the-world. In relationship
with others, such as
doctors, a sick person can experience
empathy and compassion, but
also conflict and struggle. Another
example of distance and
proximity is the difference between the
work of anthropologists and
doctors. This difference focuses the
attention to the relation
between empathy and the production of
knowledge.
Issues of distance and
proximity in illness and suffering can be
found in various
situations; distance and proximity are related
to age, gender, kinds of
illnesses and they depend on the
anthropological approach.
Ethnology and Medicine:
Empathy, Experience and Knowledge
Sylvie Fainzang, Inserm,
France
Distance and Proximity
in Refugee Medicine
Annemiek Richters,
University of Leiden
Feeling, Distance and
Emotions in Medical Practice
Josep M. Comelles,
University Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona
Parents’ Relations
with Prematurely Born Infants: Distance or
Devotion?
Jónína
Einarsdóttir, University of Iceland
Crisis of Proximity in
Medical Anthropology of Suffering
Els van Dongen, University
of Amsterdam
Working Towards
Proximity
Charlotte Bredahl Jacobsen,
University of Copenhagen
charlotte.jacobsen@anthro.ku.dk
Witchcraft and the Hand
of the Healer. Images of Distance and
Proximity
Ruth Kutalek, Medical
University, Vienna
Armin Prinz, Medical
University, Vienna
Adapting to
Mobility-Disability in Older Age
Rachael Gooberman-Hill,
University of Bristol