The political economy of health

by Lesley Doyal, Imogen Pennell

The Political Economy of Health challenges the view that ill-health and disease are misfortunes that just happen to people, and which scientific medicine is dedicated to combating. Instead, it shows that ill-health is largely a product of the social and economic organisation of society; that medical practice and research are strongly influenced by their roles in maintaining and controlling a healthy labour force; and that the medical field provides a large and growing arena for capital accumulation.

Lesley Doyal and Imogen Pennell explore the changing patterns of health and illness and the evolution of medical practice both in Britain and in the Third World. They include a detailed examination of the problems of health as a welfare provision under capitalism, a close look at the National Health Service in Britain, and investigations into the part medical ideology plays in the oppression of women.

360 pages, Hardcover

First published May 14, 2014