A collection of papers that challenge the conventional analyses of the problems facing health, medicine and medical care in Western societies in general, and North America in particular.
Preface PART 1: The Definition of Health and MedicineThe Social Nature of the Definition of Health Sander Kelman Functionalism and After? Theory and Developments in Social Science Applied to the Health Field Ronald Frankenberg The Industrialization of Fetishism or the Fetishism of Industrialization—A Critique of Ivan Illich Vicente Navarro PART 2: The Political Economy of Health CareHealth Care in the United States: Who Pays? Thomas S. Bodenheimer Capitalizing on Illness: The Health Insurance Industry Thomas Bodenheimer, Steven Cummings, and Elizabeth Harding The Political Economy of Medical Care—An Explanation of the Composition, Nature, and Functions of the Present Health Sector of the United States Vicente Navarro PART 3: The Political Sociology of Gender and FunctionsWomen and Health Care: A Comparison of Theories Elizabeth Fee PART 4: The Political Sociology of the State InterventionOn the Structural Constraints to State Intervention in Health Marc Renaud
