" Eating Clean”

Abstract

This dissertation explores the ideological undercurrents of fringe and alternative health movements throughout US history and within today’s wellness industry - specifically the "detox" movement. By investigating health behavior and health ideologies that deviate from or exist in opposition to mainstream medicine, the project examines what is communicated through these movements beyond claims about health. It explores how alternative practitioners discern between good and bad information, how they build knowledge and networks, and how they are driven by broader political ideologies to participate in alternative practices. Using historical analysis, interview data, and case studies of radicalized wellness influencers, the project considers the potential and the limitations of alternative health movements. Because research took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, both the regulatory environment and ideological debates about healthcare were heightened; this enabled an exploration of radicalization pathways within alternative health movements as well. Overall, the project characterizes and evaluates the norms that govern information-seeking within alternative health movements and identifies elements of the “radicalization pipelines” that exist within fringe movements. The first chapter uses historical data to explore how alternative health movements throughout history have been shaped by both epistemological values and bids for class, gender, and race supremacy. The second chapter describes and evaluates the norms that govern information quality and expert legitimacy outside of traditional channels of expertise within today’s wellness industry. And the third chapter investigates radicalization pathways within these movements.