Health inequalities: critical perspectives

Abstract

The explicit aim of the book is to ".ￂ .ￂ .bring together established and new health inequalities research experts, local community activist, policymakers, and campaigners, national and local UK perspectives, and those working on health inequalities beyond the UK, in both high- and low-income setting" [Preface p. xii]. Chapter 8 explains how efforts are more often placed on the 'downstream' behavioral and clinical risk factors that can be addressed through traditional public health approaches, "rather than asking how to reduce social inequality" [p.109] and instead focusing on the "fundamental causes" (e.g. money, knowledge, power, prestige, and social connections), that is, the 'upstream' structural drivers that generate health inequalities. Future books should consider building on this multidisciplinary integrated approach, to potentially expand on some of the issues mentioned here, and establish an even more balanced perspective from those working on health inequalities, both locally and globally. 1Health Inequalities Research Group, Employment Conditions Knowledge Network (GREDS-EMCONET), Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, Spain lucinda.cashgibson01@estudiant.upf.edu 2Johns Hopkins University - Pompeu Fabra University Public Policy Center Barcelona, Spain 3Transdisciplinary Research Group on Socioecological Transitions (GinTRANS2).