Praxis: a case study in the depoliticization of methods in nursing research.

This paper offers a case study in the depoliticization of the concept of praxis as it enters the nursing literature through Margaret Newman's (1990) paper Theory of Health as Praxis, which draws on Lather's (1986) description of 'research as praxis.' Newman's view of the relationship between consciousness and matter is contrasted with that of Marxism and her concept of health-illness is discussed. These considerations yield some examples of the liberal-democratic ideological position which underwrites her theory, and it is suggested that in drawing on the notion of praxis, Newman borrows from an ideology which is ultimately at odds with her theoretical construction of nursing.