Political Sociology and the People's Health

Jason Beckfield and Series edited by Nancy Krieger

Small Books Big Ideas in Population Health

An original synthesis of concepts from political sociology and social epidemiology, offering an original unified theory of social inequalities in health
For readers in social epidemiology and public health, an introduction to a mostly unknown set of concepts (macroscopic approaches to social policy; labor markets; the racialized and gendered state) that can enrich and advance current thinking
For political sociologists, an epidemiological conceptualization of population, etiologic period, and distribution that will be useful for advancing the field, as well as a new empirical terrain that offers pressing puzzles for cutting-edge investigation
Visual representations of new and difficult concepts maximize accessibility and application
Identifies and describes unique data sources that will benefit readers in other applications
Essential reading for students and researchers in public health, epidemiology, sociology, and other social sciences
Relevant to current academic and popular conversations around social inequality and economic and social policy
The first title in the innovative Small Books, Big Ideas in Population Health series, led by Harvard's Nancy Krieger and offering short, ecosocial approaches to topics across population health and its surrounding disciplines

Political Sociology and the People's Health

Jason Beckfield and Series edited by Nancy Krieger

Small Books Big Ideas in Population Health

Description

A social epidemiologist looks at health inequalities in terms of the upstream factors that produced them. A political sociologist sees these same inequalities as products of institutions that unequally allocate power and social goods. Neither is wrong -- but can the two talk to one another?

In a stirring new synthesis, Political Sociology and the People's Health advances the debate over social inequalities in health by offering a new set of provocative hypotheses around how health is distributed in and across populations. It joins political sociology's macroscopic insights into social policy, labor markets, and the racialized and gendered state with social epidemiology's conceptualizations and measurements of populations, etiologic periods, and distributions.

The result is a major leap forward in how we understand the relationships between institutions and inequalities -- and essential reading for those in public health, sociology, and beyond.

Political Sociology and the People's Health

Jason Beckfield and Series edited by Nancy Krieger

Small Books Big Ideas in Population Health

Acknowledgements

Foreword: For the People's Health - Why this Book Series of Small Books with Big Ideas?
Nancy Krieger

Introduction: Political Sociology & Social Epidemiology

1. Key Concepts, Measures, & Data

2. New Questions & Answers about Embodied Social Inequalities

3. Scientific Challenges to Engaging Political Sociology & Social Epidemiology

Bibliography

Index

Political Sociology and the People's Health

Jason Beckfield and Series edited by Nancy Krieger

Small Books Big Ideas in Population Health

Author Information

Jason Beckfield is Professor and Chair of Sociology and Associate Director of the Center for Population and Development Studies at Harvard University. He conducts inter-disciplinary research on how institutional arrangements -- the "rules of the game" that organize power in social life -- structure inequality, including the global distribution of population health. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Harvard Medical School, and the American Sociological Association. He is also grateful to the taxpayers of the great states of Missouri and Indiana, who supported his training in the form of generous scholarships and fellowships.

Political Sociology and the People's Health

Jason Beckfield and Series edited by Nancy Krieger

Small Books Big Ideas in Population Health

Reviews and Awards

"If the goal of the book was to present big ideas in a small package, it undoubtedly succeeds ... this book is destined to be a key text for students of health disparities." -- Population and Development Review