Materializing complementary and alternative medicine: aromatherapy, chiropractic, and Chinese herbal medicine in the UK

The paper explores the materiality of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), with particular reference to aromatherapy, Chinese herbal medicine, and chiropractic, as presented in the journals of UK-based practitioner associations. The paper begins by arguing for a poststructuralist approach to materiality. It then considers how certain materials play a signature (or emblematic) role in the definition and practice of various CAM modalities. Focusing primarily on the examples of essential oils and herbal remedies, we consider how such materials are valued for their agency and expressiveness within the therapeutic encounter. However, these signature materials also possess the ability to produce unwanted effects which regulators, practitioners, and manufacturers seek to control. Consequently, the materialization of CAM is fraught with tension. In addition to these signature materials, the paper also considers the wider assemblage of materials (especially treatment couches) that supplement the taking place of CAM. Although these supplementary materials are often treated in a functional, instrumental, and taken-for-granted manner, these materials are also shown to be duplicitous. The paper concludes by arguing that the continuing professionalization and regulation of the UK CAM sector is radically changing the situated consistency of its signature and supplementary materials.