New Questions and Answers about Embodied Social Inequalities

How might the political-sociological concepts reviewed in Chapter 1 contribute to the distribution of population health? To connect the dots, the author begins this chapter with a reconsideration of several established facts about social inequalities in health. Next, he discusses new evidence that establishes relationships between political-sociological structures and processes described in the last chapter, and social inequalities in health. Disease is distributed unequally within populations according to socioeconomic position (SEP), even after controlling for the many behavioral and other factors that affect health and are also—variably across institutional contexts—correlated with SEP. A consideration of political sociology helps us to explain these facts. Moreover, the political-sociological context also shapes the distribution of resources that matter for health.