An introduction to the medical anthropology of care and self care.

Abstract

This special section on self-care introduces a research perspective sensitive to aspects of caring for self and other that are core to sociogenesis. We start with critical post-humanist research that highlights how bondaries between self and other get blurred in the context of caring. This is also demonstrated by ethno- and evolutionary biological research that leaves unmentioned the selfish gene and, instead, foregrounds the socially relevant in humans and primates. The focus throughout this research project into self-care, which goes beyond disciplinary boundaries, is on socio-ecologically comprehended selves.