The Ashgate Research Companion to the Globalization of Health

Global health has emerged as a distinct field of academic research and professional activity. Over the last decade, health has become an important element of many nations' foreign policies, a routine agenda item for the G8 and a rapidly expanding focus of bilateral and multilateral development assistance. Some aspects of health, like the spread of easily transmitted communicable diseases, are self-evidently global in an age of rapid, low-cost air travel. Many more reflect the influence of transnational economic integration ('globalization') and its effects on national economies, societies and health systems. In still other cases, like non-communicable diseases in most low- and middle-income countries, the lack of impact on the interests of more powerful actors outside the borders of the affected areas makes it difficult to generate the concern and action on the part of the global community that may be imperative for ethical reasons. This multinational volume of original contributed papers simultaneously provides an overview of the state of current global health scholarship, reflects the multidisciplinary nature of the field, and highlights the most significant issues for research and policy.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Editor's introduction: globalizing health politics in the new century, Ted Schrecker; The value of historical perspective, Monica H. Green; From plagues to peoples: health on the modern global/international agenda, Anne-Emanuelle Birn; The politics of non-communicable disease policy, Sara M. Glasgow; Anthropology and global health, Vinh-Kim Nguyen; Global environmental change and human health, Charmian M. Bennett and Anthony J. McMichael; Reaching behind borders: international trade and chronic disease, K.S. Mohindra, Raphael Lencucha and Ronald Labonté; Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose: an overview of obstacles and opportunities to improve access to medicines, Natalia Ovtcharenko, Sarah Bonazza and Jillian Clare Kohler; Global health and the human security agenda, Colleen O'Manique; Biopolitics at the crossroads of sexuality and disaster: the case of Haiti, Rosalind P. Petchesky; Metropolitan health in a globalizing world, Ted Schrecker, Françoise Barten and K.S. Mohindra; Global health governance and the intersection of health and foreign policy, Wolfgang Hein and Ilona Kickbusch; Advocates for global health aid must call for a new development model, Rick Rowden; Taking social determinants of health seriously, Ruth Bell, Sharon Friel and Michael Marmot; The contributions of a human rights approach to health, Audrey R. Chapman; Coda: the world after Lehman Brothers, New York and Rio, Ted Schrecker; Bibliography; Index.

Review :
'This volume provides an overview of current theoretical frameworks and research trends in the expanding field of global health. Its clever, multidisciplinary approach and thought-provoking selection of topics will give novice researchers a comprehensive introduction to contemporary debates in the field and stimulate growth in new areas of research... Recommended.' Choice 'Faced with what is now a vast literature labelled as "global health", readers can use this volume to gain a direct route into the core health issues lying at the heart of a globalizing world.' Kelley Lee, Simon Fraser University, Canada and London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK ’Global health has undergone a renaissance in political interest and a crisis in the politics of providing health for all. This book’s refreshing insight and depth helps us understand this conundrum and crucially offers ideas for how to move forward. The book is both an excellent research companion and provoker of new ideas and research agendas making it an essential read for anyone interested in global health.’ Sophie Harman, City University London, UK ’This outstanding collection dissects the social production of public health discourse, showing how dominant frameworks and strategies make power invisible. Contributors include social scientists breaking new ground in evidence-based interdisciplinarity and key players in global policy-making: - an essential teaching resource for students and staff.’ Eileen O’Keefe, London Metropolitan University, UK 'An array of researchers, notable for their contributions to the field, has produced a work that can be read in its entirety or used as a ’companion’ reference for particular topics ... the Research Companion is a valuable contribution to the literature and is an authoritative reference for researchers and students of one of the great contemporary phenomena of the age: the globalisation of health.' Australian Journal of Primary Health