Elements for a critical history of screening practices: the case of France

Abstract

In France, screening is a practice often discussed and evaluated by the actors of the medical world; social scientist also address it, they study conditions for its implementation, its effects, or its possible deviations. From a social historical perspective, it is proposed here to operate a decentration by questioning rather the successive transformations of this practice. Tuberculosis, cancer and AIDS will be emphasized in order to reveal the inflexions that have occurred since the end of the 19th century and to underline the radical newness of the contemporary scouting state.

Keywords

• Screening
• prevention
• health policy
• France
• social history.