Overview

The field of Global Health can be complex and challenging to navigate. This fascinating set of case studies not only illustrates the global interconnectedness of health issues across different continents but also brings clarity to the range of social theories used to make sense of the construction and distribution of health and illness around the world. Each chapter features an ethnographic case study paired with a social theory. Beginning in southern Mexico, and exploring the concept of structural violence through the story of a family diagnosed with HIV and TB, the book travels to Haiti to add a postcolonial analysis through the story of a young boy with a congenital heart condition. Heading north to Navajo Nation, the volume explores ideas of cultural competence and biopower through the story of a trans woman seeking care, and travels to the other side of the globe to illuminate structural competency through a case focused on digestion in central India. The final case, set in the hills of Nepal, centers on the experience of healthcare providers navigating changing health and social norms, through the framework of social suffering. Both accessible and engaging, this volume will be important reading for students and scholars of medicine and public health, medical anthropology and sociology, and development studies, as well as professionals working in global health. The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

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9781041034865

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Case Studies in Global Health honors the late Paul Farmer's career-long emphasis on applying social theories to global health interventions and global health problems more generally. The book provides interesting and useful examples at the level of lived experience and clinical and public health practice of why the translation of social theory can be so significant for global health. Just as important and equally representative of the commitment of Farmer, is the presence in the volume of authors whose careers represent this critical practice. A highly appropriate tribute and a practically significant continuation of what critical global public health can be."" — Arthur Kleinman, MD Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard ""Ill-health is not a biological phenomenon alone—it is a complex alchemy of social, economic, structural, and political forces. As the poison of health inequity rises globally, the only antidote is solidarity—deep listening to, learning from, and acting with those who are oppressed by these forces. The stories in this collection seek to share this work of proximity and call for the practice of social medicine."" — Joia S. Mukherjee, MD/MPH, Partners in Health

Author Information

Lillian Walkover is faculty in the Department of Communication and the Global Health Program at the University of California San Diego. Jack Fukushima is a medical and doctoral student at the University of California Los Angeles. Sriram Shamasunder and Phuoc V. Le are faculty at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, and co-founders of the HEAL Initiative.

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