Demedication without demedicalization? Redefining the medical and economic boundaries of veterinary professional jurisdiction.

Veterinarians' professional jurisdiction is nowadays facing major challenges. Regulatory changes in the prescribing and dispensing of medicines, which have historically been at the heart of veterinary jurisdiction, could fragilize the medical power of this professional group. This article analyses the practices and strategies deployed by veterinarians to preserve and readapt their jurisdiction, by discussing recent work in sociology of professions and reflecting on how the case of veterinarians could help rethink the contrasting case of human doctors. This article is based on two field studies in France (in diverse livestock sectors) made of more than 40 interviews and 70 h of ethnographic observation of veterinary activity. We first show how veterinarians' jurisdiction over medicines was built up and how their professional autonomy is put under pressure by recent injunctions to demedicate livestock and to develop preventive approaches to animal health. We then detail how the economic and medical boundaries of veterinary jurisdiction are being redefined through dynamics of protocolization and contractualization of care which allow veterinarians to impose themselves as health managers. Finally, we demonstrate that this situation favors the emergence of new forms of professional legitimacy based on an "evidence-based veterinary medicine" that their competitors cannot contest, and on the development of economic infrastructures that supports and makes it possible to monetize this new professional expertise. Finally, this article discusses contemporary processes of medical professionalization. It argues that, unlike human medicine, veterinary medicine has been able to maintain its professional power even if its historical jurisdiction has been reshaped. This has required a redefinition of professional activity both as a medical (i.e. approaches to animal health) and economic (i.e. business model of veterinary companies) practice.

Alternative Medicines on the Farm: A Study of Dairy Farmers' Experiences in France.

Despite being of debatable efficacy, alternative medicines are in regular use on both organic and conventional dairy farms as part of a strategy for limiting the on-farm use of antibiotics. The study presented here examined French dairy farmers' understanding of and experiences with these medicines, focusing on homeopathy, aromatherapy and phytotherapy. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach combining animal science and sociology, we considered how dairy farmers' use of alternative medicines fits into a holistic approach to herd health management, on the one hand, and into farmers' networks of professional relationships, on the other. Our findings show that farmers are interested in alternative medicines for reasons that are at once technical, ethical, and economic. In the absence of local veterinarians specializing in homeopathy and aromatherapy, farmers enroll in short-term training courses to learn how to use these medicines. Alternative medicines are not a substitute for conventional medicine for these farmers; rather, they constitute one part of a holistic approach to herd health that combines preventive measures with a variety of curative treatments, and which is grounded in close attention to the animals' state of health. Farmers make use of guidelines for observing livestock that are central to the veterinary alternative medicine approach. Interestingly, women farmers appear to play an important role in introducing these practices into the management of the farm operation. Finally, farmers' interest in alternative medicines is indicative of their broader expectations for advice and support in moving toward the integrated management of livestock health, a key element of the agroecological transition. Recognizing these expectations offers useful insights for rethinking the role of veterinarians in dairy farming.