The drive for professionalization in British osteopathy

This article examines the drive by osteopaths for professionalization in Great Britain. Whereas osteopathy evolved into osteopathic medicine and became part of the medical mainstream in the United States, osteopathy diffused from America to Britain around the turn of the century where it continues to function as a marginal profession. In an effort to overcome their marginality osteopaths have established associations and schools, lobbied for state recognition, created an umbrella organization to transcend intrapersonal rivalries, formed voluntary registers and redefined the scope of their practice. In addition to presenting an overview of these strategies for professionalization, I argue that the ability of osteopaths to obtain legitimacy depends upon convincing political and economic elites that they are useful in compensating for contradictions of capital-intensive, high technology medicine.