Masculinities and Health Inequalities Within Neoliberal Economies

‘Health inequalities—persistence and change in European welfare states’ studies why frequencies of disease, disability, and premature mortality are higher among people with a lower socioeconomic position, even in countries with advanced welfare states. Drawing upon data from 30 countries covering more than three decades, it provides a comprehensive overview of trends and patterns of health inequalities, showing that these are not only ubiquitous and persistent, but also highly variable and dynamic. It provides a critical assessment of recent research into the explanation of health inequalities, discussing methodological pitfalls, summarizing findings from epidemiological, sociological, economic, and genetic studies, and reviewing nine overarching theories. Based on in-depth studies of the determinants of health inequalities in European countries, it shows that the persistence of health inequalities is due to a combination of mostly favourable changes in social stratification, massive but differential health improvements, and persistence of social inequality in material and non-material living conditions. It discusses why social inequality is so persistent, and whether welfare state reform could contribute to reducing health inequalities, and provides a systematic analysis of the inequitableness of health inequalities according to five theories of justice. It reviews recent attempts by European national governments to reduce health inequalities, showing that it is realistic to expect evidence-based policies to reduce absolute but not relative inequalities in health. This title is written for scientists and advanced students from various disciplines, as well as for public health professionals and policymakers, and is profusely illustrated and referenced.

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The Politics of Global Health Inequalities

The Oxford Handbook of Global Health Politics ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190456818.013.15 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 58-84

Author(s):

Yusra Ribhi Shawar ◽

Jennifer Prah Ruger

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Critical Theory ◽

Global Health ◽

Health Inequalities ◽

Health Inequality ◽

The Political ◽

State Of Health ◽

Political Determinants ◽

The Social

Careful investigations of the political determinants of health that include the role of power in health inequalities—systematic differences in health achievements among different population groups—are increasing but remain inadequate. Historically, much of the research examining health inequalities has been influenced by biomedical perspectives and focused, as such, on ‘downstream’ factors. More recently, there has been greater recognition of more ‘distal’ and ‘upstream’ drivers of health inequalities, including the impacts of power as expressed by actors, as well as embedded in societal structures, institutions, and processes. The goal of this chapter is to examine how power has been conceptualised and analysed to date in relation to health inequalities. After reviewing the state of health inequality scholarship and the emerging interest in studying power in global health, the chapter presents varied conceptualisations of power and how they are used in the literature to understand health inequalities. The chapter highlights the particular disciplinary influences in studying power across the social sciences, including anthropology, political science, and sociology, as well as cross-cutting perspectives such as critical theory and health capability. It concludes by highlighting strengths and limitations of the existing research in this area and discussing power conceptualisations and frameworks that so far have been underused in health inequalities research. This includes potential areas for future inquiry and approaches that may expand the study of as well as action on addressing health inequality.

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The Atlas of Health Inequalities in Japan

10.1007/978-3-030-22707-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Health Inequalities

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