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Political Science Canadian

Neoliberal Governance and Health

Duties, Risks, and Vulnerabilities

edited by Jessica Polzer & Elaine Polzer

Publisher
McGill-Queen's University Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2016
Category
Canadian
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780773547834
    Publish Date
    Jul 2016
    List Price
    $40.95
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780773547827
    Publish Date
    Jul 2016
    List Price
    $110.00
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780773599550
    Publish Date
    Sep 2016
    List Price
    $34.95

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Description

Provoking urgent questions about the politics of health in the twenty-first century, this collection interrogates how neoliberal approaches to governance frame health and risk in ways that promote individual responsibility and the implications of such framings for the well-being of the collective. The essays examine a range of important issues, including childhood obesity, genetic testing, HPV vaccination, Aboriginal health, pandemic preparedness, environmental health, disability policy, aging, contingent work, and women’s access to social services.

With specific attention to the Canadian context, contributors reveal how neoliberal practices and policies shape the health experiences of individuals, disadvantaged groups, and communities by cultivating self-discipline while further exposing to harm the lives and bodies of those already marginalized in consumer society. Building on the theoretical conceptualizations of power and government of French philosopher Michel Foucault, the case studies extend our understanding of the effects of neoliberal practices and policies in relation to social class, gender, racialized identity, colonization, and ability, and provide insight into how health-related discourse creates new requirements for citizenship and forms of social stratification.

A timely intervention in the field of health studies, Neoliberal Governance and Health establishes the need for critical interdisciplinary scholarship to counter the individualizing and marginalizing tendencies of health-related policy, practice and research.

About the authors

Jessica Polzer is associate professor in the Department of Women’s Studies and Feminist Research and the School of Health Studies at the University of Western Ontario.

Jessica Polzer's profile page

Elaine Power is associate professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University.

Elaine Polzer's profile page