“HOW UGLY TO BE CHOSEN BECAUSE YOU’RE CHEAP”: MEDICAL FEES AND PROFESSIONAL DOMINANCE IN THE BUENOS AIRES AESTHETIC SURGERY MARKET

This article analyzes the construction of medical fees by plastic surgeons in the City of Buenos Aires, understanding it as a key instance in the negotiation and affirmation of professional dominance. Drawing on the intersection between the sociology of professions and economic sociology, the study is based on 25 in-depth interviews with certified specialists (2018-2019), complemented by material from social media and journalistic archives. The findings show that, contrary to economicist approaches and the “hostile worlds” dichotomy, the relational and processual interpretation of prices reveals them as the outcome of practices aimed at establishing distinctions in a market with porous boundaries, affirming intra- and inter-professional hierarchies, consolidating medical authority in the face of consumerist challenges posed by patients, and defending the autonomy of liberal practice against the advance of prepaid health insurance companies.

Keywords:
Professional dominance; Valuation; Medical fees; Money; Plastic surgery