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Available open access digitally under CC-BY licence. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a drug taken by HIV-negative people that reduces the risk of getting HIV. Comparing two case studies in Denmark and Zimbabwe, this book demonstrates six paradoxes that users often encounter in navigating their PrEP journey. These paradoxes lead to contentions, uncertainties, dilemmas and ambiguities that need to be carefully and pensively responded to through what the author terms ‘everyday PrEP negotiations’. The social nature and need for such everyday PrEP negotiations help explain why PrEP works for some people and not for others. This book argues that such insight is critical to make PrEP work for more people and to inform social public health responses. more...

The complex answer to why the United States does so poorly in health measures has at its base one pervasive issue: The United States has by far the highest levels of inequality of all the rich countries. Inequality Kills Us All details how living in a society with entrenched hierarchies increases the negative effects of illnesses for everyone. The antidote must start, Stephen Bezruchka recognizes, with a broader awareness of the nature of the problem, and out of that understanding policies that eliminate these inequalities: A fair system of taxation, so that the rich are paying their share; support for child well-being, including paid parental leave, continued monthly child support payments, and equitable educational opportunities; universal access to healthcare; and a guaranteed income for all Americans. The aim is to have a society that treats everyone well—and health will follow. more...

In einem neuen postmodernen und transdisziplinären Verständnis von Public Health versteht sich die bisherige Außengrenze der Disziplin als eine, die proliferiert, zum Überschreiten einlädt und ihren Verlauf ständig mit einem neuen Verfallsdatum versieht. Der enge Rahmen, der künstlich um das derzeit sehr bescheidene Fächerspektrum gezogen wird, engt den Blick auf Gesundheit unnötig ein. So behindert er sogar die 1986 von der WHO eingeforderte gesamtgesellschaftlich getragene Sorge um die Gesundheit der Bevölkerung. In einem innovativen Vorhaben versammeln die Beiträger*innen diejenigen Fachdisziplinen, die bislang nicht ausreichend in gesundheitswissenschaftlichen Diskussionen berücksichtigt wurden. Damit öffnen sie den akademischen Diskurs und geben einen Ausblick auf eine Gesundheitswissenschaft ohne Grenzen. more...

The Routledge Handbook of Ecocultural Identity brings the ecological turn to sociocultural understandings of self. The editors introduce a broad, insightful assembly of original theory and research on planetary positionalities in flux in the Anthropocene – or what in this Handbook cultural ecologist David Abram presciently renames the Humilocene, a new “epoch of humility.” Forty international authors craft a kaleidoscopic lens, focusing on the following key interdisciplinary inquiries: Part I illuminates identity as always ecocultural, expanding dominant understandings of who we are and how our ways of identifying engender earthly outcomes. Part II examines ways ecocultural identities are fostered and how difference and spaces of interaction can be sources of environmental conviviality. Part III illustrates consequential ways the media sphere informs, challenges, and amplifies particular ecocultural identities. Part IV delves into the constitutive power of ecocultural identities and illuminates ways ecological forces shape the political sphere. Part V demonstrates multiple and unspooling ways in which ecocultural identities can evolve and transform to recall ways forward to reciprocal surviving and thriving. TheRoutledge Handbook of Ecocultural Identity provides an essential resource for scholars, teachers, students, protectors, and practitioners interested in ecological and sociocultural regeneration. The Routledge Handbook of Ecocultural Identity has been awarded the 2020 Book Award from the National Communication Association's (USA) Environmental Communication Division. more...

This book explores how gay and bi men’s lived experiences of chemsex intersect with its cultural representations. It argues that while normative moral frameworks are often used to talk about chemsex, chemsex sub-cultures contain their own valuable moral frameworks that can provide lessons about some of the most pressing concerns of contemporary society. Drawing from a tradition of scholarship that views queer sub-cultures as having pedagogical value for all of society, Maurice Nagington critiques norms that govern lives in relation to: the interactions of bodies, sex and capitalism, trauma and tragedy, the regulation of boundaries, and the disciplinary apparatuses in modern society. Each chapter takes its lead from themes informed by the analysis of longitudinal interviews conducted over a two-year period by the author and an archive of materials concerning chemsex such as films, soundtracks, health promotion pamphlets, newspaper articles, blogs, and ethnographic field notes. Linking the accounts of interviewees to wider debates about and representations of chemsex, this innovative book develops a cohesive narrative about the moral lessons chemsex can teach us. Contributing to the emerging field of critical chemsex studies, this volume is of interest to advanced students and scholars interested in gender and sexuality studies, sociology of health and illness, medical anthropology, critical public health and criminology, as well those who are involved in chemsex and wish to read and reflect about it as more than just a problem. 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. more...

Medicine is a powerful symbol in human history and societies and it is difficult to distinguish its worldly properties, concerning daily functioning, actual capacities and contradictions, from the public image of expert knowledge to which we collectively delegate responsibility for our individual and collective well-being. The book stems from the desire and need to explore what is ""behind the scenes"" of medicine, in that gray area that is daily care practices. What the patient, or the external observer, often sees is the limelight of medicine: the moment in which the therapeutic or diagnostic act takes place, when the clinical intervention becomes defined and tangible. To arrive at that final moment, a vast network of preparation, coordination and maintenance activities took place away from the eyes of the ""public"", a hidden web of processes and practices that make effective care possible. The aim of the volume is to bring to light these processes (often neglected by the scientific literature and the collective representations), through an investigation that refers to the theoretical reflections of some classics of the sociological tradition, such as Erving Goffman and Anselm Strauss, integrating them with more recent developments in the field of organizational and social studies on science and technology. The volume presents and discusses two ethnographic studies carried out in opposite social and health contexts: the hospital Intensive care unit and the Health district grappling with the implementation of social and health integration services. The first case represents the technical nucleus of the medical-health apparatus, in which, through an intricate ensemble of technologies, drugs, clinical devices and organizational and professional choices, medicine shows the greatest effectiveness in domesticating the biological body and human variability. On the contrary, social and health integration services try to contain the uncertainty and instability that accompanies treatment trajectories outside hospital settings. The choice of cases stems from the intention to show how, despite the significant differences in context, the background remains as the space in which medicine is built on a daily basis. more...

When we ponder about whether it is time to finish a degree, start a family, or retire, we often draw on age to make an assessment: When are we too young, or too old, to do something – and what age is the right one? Age, thereby, is a central social category for Western societies: more than gender, ethnicity or social status age affects our social position, networks, lifestyles and aspirations. By asking what childhood and ageing research can learn from each other, this edited volume brings both fields into a fruitful dialogue. It touches upon topics like theories and method(olog)ies, space and time, health and care, technologies and digitalization, play, work and consumption, as well as violence, well-being and childrens’ and older peoples’ rights. This volume will appeal to scholars and students interested in childhood studies and ageing studies/gerontology located in a range of disciplines, from sociology to social work, social and cultural anthropology, educational sciences, human geography, architecture, urban planning, architecture, health and disability studies, nursing studies, political sciences and law. more...

A Brief Social History of Tuberculosis delves into the history of tuberculosis and its impact on human populations. Drawing on research and expert experiences, the three research chapters (3–5) will explore how the disease has affected communities throughout history, and how society has responded to the threat of tuberculosis over time. Tuberculosis has been a persistent and devastating force from the crowded cities of the Industrial Revolution to the present day. However, this book will argue that there is much to be learned from the successes and failures of past efforts to control the disease from a social perspective. By examining the history of tuberculosis, researchers and policymakers can gain valuable insights into the challenges of infectious disease control, as well as the social and political factors that shape our response to such challenges. This volume will focus on generating critical discussions among scholars, researchers, and policymakers: it will be informative, engaging, and an essential read for anyone interested in the history of medicine, public health, and the ongoing struggle against infectious diseases worldwide. more...

Something must have changed in society. We weren’t always this worried. Not always caught up in disastrous scenarios in our minds. What is this nagging voice in our head? Why won’t it stop, and why are we so fixated on it? In Why We Worry, Roland Paulsen paints a broad picture of the cultural variations and historical evolution of anxiety. Through this lens, he invites readers to explore the paradox of how material wealth has enriched our lives in every aspect except one: our mental well-being. This book offers empirically grounded insights into the sociological underpinnings of issues relating to worry. As such, it is suitable for undergraduate students in psychology, sociology, and medicine – and anyone who has ever been trapped in rumination. more...

This book explores how people encounter, understand, live with and respond to health risks associated with social, economic and political inequality. Complementing a traditional public health approach, the book moves beyond a focus on categories of morbidity and their structural causes. Instead, it focuses on everyday understandings and actions for people living in unequal social conditions. Making use of a variety of case studies related to physical and mental health, the authors emphasise interpersonal relationships, biographical meanings and the daily tactics of ‘getting by’. These are recurrently linked to the social-structural aspects of particular times and places. The book: Draws upon, applies and extends the biopsychosocial approach, which is well known to students of public health. Respects and gives due weight to the experience in context of people who live with health inequalities, in domestic and local settings. Explores notions of personal agency and the contingencies of everyday life, in order to offer a focused psycho-social compliment to a public health tradition dominated by top-down reasoning. This is an important read for all those seeking to understand the complexities of health inequalities holistically in their studies, research and practice. The book brings together thinking in the fields of public health, sociology, mental health and social policy. more...

This bookpresents the contemporary history and dynamics of Mexican midwifery - professional, (post)modern or autonomous, traditional and Indigenous - as profoundly political and embedded in differing societal stratifications. By situated politics, the authors refer to various networks, spaces and territories, which are also constructed by the midwives. By politically situated, the authors refer to various intersections, unsettled relations and contexts in which Mexican midwives are positioned. Examining Mexican midwiferies in depth, the volume sharpens the focus on the worlds in which midwives are profoundly immersed as agents in generating and participating in movements, alliances, health professions, communities, homes, territories and knowledges. The chapters provide a complex panorama of midwives in Mexico with an array of insights into their professional and political autonomy, (post)coloniality, body-territoriality, the challenges of defining midwifery, and above all, into the ways in which contemporary Mexican midwiferies relate to a complex set of human rights. The book will be of interest to a range of scholars from anthropology, sociology, politics, global health, gender studies, development studies, and Latin American studies, as well as to midwives and other professionals involved in childbirth policy and practice. more...

A History of Rhetoric, Sound, and Health and Healing argues for medico-sonic knowledge — systematically interpreted bodily sounds with medical knowledge mediated by rhetoric — as an evolving corporeal practice with an incomparable, sprawling history. Taking a materialist-feminist perspective, the book rhetorically accounts for sound and suggests rhetoric enables bodily sounds as understandable, knowable, and treatable with power to help and discipline bodies in health, healing, and hospital contexts. From an expansive, pan-historiographic approach integrated with and influenced by fieldwork from neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) in Denmark and the United States, the author explores intentional and unintentional diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic uses of sound in contemporary Western biomedical health systems and promotes a new research concept and fieldwork practice, sound in all research. The insightful, timely volume will interest students and researchers in the medical humanities, rhetoric and communication, health communication, sound studies, medical and allied health sciences, and research methods. more...

Folk Devils and Moral Panics in the COVID-19 Pandemic analyses the phenomena of moral panics surrounding so-called folk devils in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this volume, internationally recognised moral panic scholars from disciplines including sociology, media studies, criminology, and cultural studies examine case studies of moral panics related to the COVID-19 pandemic. These analyses consider the different social, political, economic, organisational, and cultural contexts within which such moral panics emerged and assess how the concept of moral panic can be deployed to offer novel insights into sociocultural responses to the outbreak. By utilising both classical approaches to moral panic analysis and more recent trends, chapters discuss the utility of the concept of moral panic that is, for the first time, applied to a global-scale event like the COVID-19 pandemic. This volume will be of interest to students and scholars in the social sciences with an interest in moral panics, responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the media and popular culture. more...

Available Open Access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This book delves into the complex and controversial realm of fertility care. It analyses the clash between evidence-based medicine and market dynamics in fertility treatments, with a unique focus on "add-on" treatments. It reveals how these contentious treatment options are now common practice and how they lead to an emerging market for hope. With an interdisciplinary approach, this is an essential resource for readers in the fields of science and technology studies and medical sociology. more...

Making Mental Health: A Critical History historicises mental health by examining the concept from the ‘madness’ of the late nineteenth century to the changing ideas about its contemporary concerns and status. It argues that a critical approach to the history of psychiatry and mental health shows them to constitute a dual clinical-political project that gathered pace over the course of the twentieth century and continues to resonate in the present. Drawing on scholarship across several areas of historical inquiry as well as historical and contemporary clinical literature, the book uses a thematic approach to highlight decisive moments that demonstrate the stakes of this engagement in Anglo-American contexts. By tracing the (unfinished) history of institutions, the search for cures for psychiatric distress, the growing interest of the nation-state in mental health, the history of attempts to globalise psychiatry, the controversies over the politics of diagnostic categories that erupted in the 1960s and 1970s, and the history of theorising about the relationship between the psyche and the market, the book offers a comprehensive account of the evolution of mental health into a commonplace concern. Addressing key questions in the fields of history, medical humanities, and the social sciences, as well as in the psychiatry disciplines themselves, the book is an essential contribution to an ongoing conversation about mental distress and its meanings. more...

Genome Finland tells a story of genomic medicine in Finland from the study of rare Finnish diseases in the 1960s and 1970s to the implementation of personalized medicine in the 2020s. The main focus is on the 21st century – the period after the Human Genome Project – and on the establishment of new infrastructures to support genomic medicine, such as biobanks. The book opens up the reasoning and discussions as well as the settings and events through which Finnish medical genetics reached the top level of international biomedicine in the late 1990s, biobanks and biobank research evolved during the 2000s and 2010s, and large transnational public-private partnership projects utilising massive amounts of genome and patient data started to dominate also Finnish research into the 2020s. In particular, Genome Finland examines and exposes the connections between biomedical science, ‘knowledge-based’ economy and business, and innovation policy in Finland during the past decades. more...