Oppression

A Social Determinant of Health

Elizabeth A. McGibbon

Oppression and health are intricately connected. A recent emphasis on the social determinants of health has focused attention on the “causes of the causes” of ill health, including systemic forces such as capitalism, globalization, imperialism, medicalization, neo-colonialism and neoliberalism. If we are to change the oppressive practices that cause ill health our analysis must consistently and explicitly integrate these systemic forces and thus reframe growing health inequities within the scope of moral responsibility and social justice. The internationally recognized authors of this book do just this. An important addition to the relatively new field of critical health studies, Oppression is an integration of critical social scientific perspectives and health systems/health sciences knowledge. The goal of the book is to support, enhance and provoke action to interrogate the progress of oppression. It can be done, and it is being done.

Contents

Part One: Politicizing Health: Overview of Oppression as a Social Determinant of Health • Introduction to Oppression as a Social Determinant of Health (Elizabeth A. McGibbon) • People under Threat: Health Outcomes and Oppression (Elizabeth A. McGibbon) • Critical Perspectives on the Social Determinants of Health (Dennis Raphael) • Part Two: How Oppression Operates to Produce Health Inequities • Fragmented Performances: Ageism and the Health of Elder Women (Raewyn Bassett) • Race and Racism: Determinants of Health (Josephine B. Etowa & Elizabeth A. McGibbon) • Oppression and the Health of Indigenous Peoples (Marie Battiste & James [Sa’ke’j] Youngblood Henderson) • Social Exclusion as a Determinant of Health (Grace-Edward Galabuzi) • Oppression and Immigrant Health in Canada (Denise Spitzer) • Oppression and Mental Health: Pathologizing the Outcomes of Injustice (Elizabeth A. McGibbon) • Part Three: Toward Structural Change: Public Policy, Political Economy and Human Rights • Oppression, Health and Public Policy in Canada (Toba Bryant) • Addressing Health Inequities through Health Systems Strengthening: A Rights-Based Approach to Primary Health Care Renewal (Charmaine McPherson) • Oppression and the Political Economy of Health Inequities (Elizabeth A. McGibbon & Lars K. Hallstrom) • Health as Human Right: Challenges and Supports for Accountability (Elizabeth A. McGibbon & Maureen Shebib)

About the Author

ELIZABETH A. MCGIBBON is an associate professor of nursing at St. Francis Xavier University. Her research program is in the area of social justice and health outcomes across the lifespan.