Health inequalities: critical perspectives

Establishment institutions have recently expressed alarm about the deep economic inequalities which prevail in the world's wealthiest countries. For instance, the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Reports from 2012 through 2014 identified income disparity as the most likely risk and the threat of systemic financial failure or fiscal crises as the risks presenting the highest potential impact. Such organizations flag their worries about social disorder and conflict arising from these risks. This collection offers an integrated portfolio of resources for intervening in what the editors call the ‘policy windows’ opening with the now damaged confidence in neoliberal theory, policy and practice. The collection presents an account of the current state of research, policy and practice with respect to inequalities in health focused on the UK. It is set in historical context, using a global social determinants approach, grounded in evidence of inequalities between and within countries in the global north and the global south. The book comprises 21 chapters by outstanding contributors, concluding with an unmissable chapter by the editors identifying key challenges regarding making health equity a policy priority, constructing alternatives to neoliberal approaches, and improving the evidence base on upstream factors. They offer a spirited case for academics and public health professionals to get to grips with understanding how policy gets constructed and implemented and to work with a wide range of social groups to promote well informed advocacy. Far from being a parochial text of exclusive relevance to the UK, this volume deploys evidence well beyond the local, warning against simplistic approaches: the persistent inequality in the well resourced Norwegian welfare state provokes thoughtful discussion. A major virtue of the collection is its provision of an accessible roadmap across a complex landscape, pointing to conceptual resources from the social sciences and political theory, which could inform attempts to tackle inequalities in health. It is a must-read for public health practitioners tasked with making the newly devolved public health function in England work as well as those engaged with issues of climate change, international migration, the power of multinational corporations, the democratic deficit in the production and operation of international trade regimes. Unlike much negative critique of current public health policy which is thin on what is to be done, these chapters provide critical perspectives which are positive and practical. They are designed to help the public health community with its allies do a more effective job in making sense of inequalities and addressing them, whilst offering no magic bullets. It is a treat to encounter an overview which presents public health activity as a work in progress. This book can be recommended for public health workers as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students. It has appeared just in time for those concerned with the impact on health equity of the reconfiguration of public health policy consequent on the British referendum in favour of exit from the European Union.