Epidemiology and the People's Health

"[Krieger] has written a large, well-structured, critically argued and exhaustively referenced book, the culmination of two decades of her wrestling with and writing about the fundamental questions: Does epidemiologic theory exist; if not, should it exist; and what form should it take?" -- International Journal of Epidemiology"Ultimately, Epidemiology and the People's Health is required reading for epidemiologists interested in the evolution and emergence of theory in the field. We would argue that all epidemiologists should be so interested... this book firmly establishes the importance of theory in epidemiology. We look forward to reading the many works it will inspire." --American Journal of Epidemiology

Nancy Krieger, Ph.D., is Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. She received her Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1989. In 1994 she co-founded, and still chairs, the Spirit of 1848 Caucus of the American Public Health Association, which is concerned with the links between social justice and public health.

PREFACE ; CHAPTER 1: DOES EPIDEMIOLOGIC THEORY EXIST? ON SCIENCE. DATA, AND EXPLAINING ; DISEASE DISTRIBUTION ; CHAPTER 2: HEALTH IN THE BALANCE: EARLY THEORIES ABOUT PATTERNS OF ; DISEASE OCCURRENCE ; CHAPTER 3: EPIDEMIOLOGY EMERGES: EARLY THEORIES AND DEBATING DETERMINANTS OF ; DISEASE DISTRIBUTION-POISON. FILTH, CLASS, & RACE ( 1600-1900) ; CHAPTER 4: EPIDEMIOLOGY EXPANDS: GERMS, GENES. AND THE (SOCIAL) ; ENVIRONMENT ( 1900-1950) ; CHAPTER 5: CONTEMPORARY MAINSTREAM EPIDEMIOLOGIC THEORY: ; BIOMEDICAL AND LIFESTYLE ; CHAPTER 6: SOCIAL EPIDEMIOLOGIC ALTERNATIVES: SOCIOPOLITICAL ; AND PSYCHOSOCIAL FRAMEWORKS ; CHAPTER 7: ECOSOCIAL THEORY OF DISEASE DISTRIBUTION: EMBODYING ; SOCIETAL & ECOLOGIC CONTEXT ; CHAPTER 8: EPIDEMIOLOGIC THEORY COUNTS: HARM, KNOWLEDGE, ; ACTION, AND THE PEOPLE'S HEALTH