Las ciencias sociales y la salud en la modernización de Venezuela

Résumé 0

"The social sciences have been i n - volved in health programs in V enezuela sinc e the turn of the 2 0 t h Century, but their role ha s been changing as the country has undergon e successive transformations and the scientifi c community has matured. This article analyze s the social sciences’ actions in the medicine / health field in V enezuela over the course of th e 2 0 t h Century. Variables relating to the change s and/or transformations occurring in society , the State, and academia were specified, pe r - mitting the identification of five phases d e - noting different styles and ways of conceivin g the relationship between the social sciences an d health: a) the social dimension as a field o f medical discovery; b) the social dimension an d environmental health as supports for moder n - ization; c) professionalization of the social d i - mension – from social medicine to the socia l sciences; d) the social dimension as a critiqu e of the dominant powers; and e) the social d i - mension’s diversity – from medicine to health . The social sciences’ critical and constructive a c - tions in the field of medicine and health, thei r contribution to the State’s health programs an d actions, and research activities have yielde d them acknowledgment as a key element of th e social changes required for the so-far inco n - clusive modernization of V enezuelan society."