“Race” and Health in Contemporary Britain

Ed Waqar I U Ahmad Open University Press, £12.99, pp 247 ISBN 0-335-15697-5 The social science analysis of “race” and health in Britain over the past 15 years or so has been marked by a high level of mutual denigration as successive researchers have vied with their predecessors to show that their work does full justice to the political reality of the lives of minority groups in contemporary society in ways which the work of others failed to do. Ahmad's collection of commissioned pieces is no exception. The editor sets out the aim of the book in the first chapter as providing a critical introduction to the study of health, illness, and health care provision in the lives of Britain's black population. Ahmad sums up what he means by “critical” in this context by arguing that research and practice must focus on racism rather than simply on race, ethnicity, or minority status and must take full account of …