Medicine, Health and Society

Hannah Bradby’s research on howethnicity and racism intervene in the social relations of health has beenpublished in various journals including ‘Social Science and Medicine’ and‘Sociological Research Online’.  Sheco-edits the journal ‘Ethnicity and Health’ and is the ‘Sociology of Health andIllness’ monograph series editor.Hannah has taught both medics andsociologists at the University of Warwick since 2000, employing variousrepresentations of health, illness and suffering including written (memoire,letters, reportage, fiction, clinical notes, empirical research) and spokenforms (evidence from clinicians, patients and former patients, in variouslanguages, and sometimes mediated by trained interpreters). She has worked onthe core medical school curriculum and special study modules and hascollaborated with students to publish books of their own sociological work,both written and photographic. Building on observations by the late MegStacey (the first female professor at the University of Warwick) on medicalsociology’s lack of attention to war as a public health problem Hannahco-edited (with Gillian Hundt) a collection entitled ‘Global Perspectives onWar, Gender and Health’ (2010, Avebury). ‘Medical Sociology: An introduction’(2009, Sage) seeks to interpret sociological criticism of medicine and insightsinto the experience of illness for medical students.

In this timely book, Hannah Bradby brings together classic sociological writings and the latest research on the links between medicine, health and society. Bradby discusses a range of important issues with three main themes: patterns of illness in populations, health and illness in everyday life, and the promise and pitfalls of modern health care systems. Bradby offers insightful analysis as well as synthesis in areas such as inequalities, gender and ethnicity, where she is a leading expert. Throughout the book, Bradby′s command of her material is impressive, and expressed in an approachable and lively style. Highly commended - a key work for all students of medical sociologyMike BuryProfessor Emeritus of Royal Holloway College

• Prologue: Sociology, Medicine and Medical SociologyIntroductionMedical Sociology and Its Relationship with SociologyTheory and ApplicationSociology and MedicineInterdisciplinarity and MultidisciplinarityReferencesIntroducing the Sociology of Medicine, Health and SocietySocial Theory and the Sociology of Health and MedicineIntroductionParsons and FunctionalismCriticism of Parsons′ Idealized TypeTheories of Conflict and Political EconomyInequalities and Social StratificationInteractionismPhenomenologyModernity and Post-ModernitySocial ConstructionismPost-Structuralism and StructuralismCriticism of ConstructionismConclusionReferencesHealth InequalitiesIntroductionTheory and InequalityInequity and InequalityMeasurement of InequalityThe Pattern of Health InequalitiesCauses of InequalitiesHealthcare and InequalitiesGlobal InequalityConclusionWomen, Gender and FeminismIntroductionFeminismGendered VisibilityGendered Polarity and Theorizing DifferenceReconceptualizing GenderUndoing PolaritiesHealth InequalitiesMorbidity, Gender and the Effect of WorkConclusionReferencesEthnicity, Racism and DifferenceIntroductionBackground - UKBackground - USASociology of Race RelationsEthnicity and Health InequalitiesMental HealthConclusionReferencesBodies, Pain and SufferingIntroductionThe Sociological BodyDissecting the BodyCultural BodiesBiotechnological BodiesEmbodimentBodies and DisabilitiesBodies and NarrativeMute BodiesMeta-Narrative and SufferingConclusionReferencesThe Workings of MedicineIntroductionBackgroundMedicine′s Golden AgeMedical PowerMedical ImperialismProletarianization, Deprofessionalization and CorporatizationChallenging Medicine: Efficacy, Efficiency, AccessibilityEfficacy, Equity and EfficiencyManagers, Managerialism and MarketsChallenging EquityHas the NHS Improved?The Doctor-Patient Relationship in a Regulatory FrameworkThe Legal ChallengeConsumerism in MedicineSpecializationAlternative Medical PractitionersMedical TourismMedicalization in a Digital EraConclusionReferencesConclusionIntroductionThe Practice of MedicineMedical EncountersBiotechnologyEthics and Expectations of Biotechnological InnovationThe Culture of BioethicsGlobal HealthMedical MigrationGlobal Suffering and SociologyConclusionReferencesGlossary of Terms