Social Justice in Public Health: Critical Perspectives on the Social Determinants of Health

by Richard Chenhall (Editor), Kate Senior (Editor), Natalie Jovanovski (Editor)

Overview

Social Justice in Public Health is the first edited volume to critically assess the foundational concepts underpinning the social determinants of health (SDoH), charting paradigmatic shifts in public health as well as critiquing the depoliticization of the SDoH concept itself.

Featuring chapters from scholars across public health and the social and political sciences, as well as health professionals and policy experts, each section draws on theoretical and empirical examples of social justice in relation to health issues. Split into three parts to provide a holistic framework, Part 1 looks at the theoretical complexities of key issues such as race, culture, gender and class, while Part 2 assesses the role of social movements that have challenged long-held assumptions about the SDoH, including chapters on reproductive health, LGBTQ+ rights and mental health. Part 3 examines the advocacy and activism that has been used so far to create positive social change, including case studies across a range of policy areas.

Shining a critical public health spotlight on the social determinants of health, this important and insightful volume will prove fascinating reading for students and researchers across Public Health, Sociology and Political Science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032608754
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/09/2025
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Richard Chenhall is a Medical Anthropologist at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. His research focuses on the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, including research on substance misuse and treatment, sexual health, youth experiences, digital storytelling, and the social determinants of health.

Kate Senior is a Medical Anthropologist in the School of Humanities, Creative Industries, and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle. Her research is community-led, helping to support the capacity, health and wellbeing of young people and remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern territory.

Natalie Jovanovski is a Health Sociologist and Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences and Social Equity Research Centre, RMIT University. Her research focuses on the role that social inequalities play in shaping people’s relationships with food, eating and their bodies, especially women.

Table of Contents

Introduction Social Justice and The Social Determinants of Health.Part I Unpacking The 'Social': Theoretical Issues in Public Health.  1.Struggles for Social Justice in Improving the Social Determinants of Indigenous Health.  2.Conceptualising and Problematising Gender and Power in Public Health: A Trialogue.  3.Essential Workers, Broken Bodies: The Occupational Syndemics of Farmworkers in North America.  Part II Paradigmatic Conflicts and Social Movements in The Social Determinants of Health.  4.Weight Stigma as A Social Determinant of Health: Weight-Centred Versus Weight-Neutral Approaches to Weight Stigma Prevention.  5.The Space for Mad Studies: A Narrative of Empowerment.  6.Structural Stigma as A Social Determinant Of LGBTQ+ Health.  7.A Social Justice Approach to Reproductive Rights.  Part III What Change Looks Like: Activism, Advocacy, Pedagogy and Policy Change.  8.Critical Pedagogy for Public Health: Challenging Dominant Ideologies.  9.Bringing Health and Justice: A Coordinated Approach to Addressing Indigenous Health and Legal Needs in Australia.  10.Shaping Policies to Address the Social Determinants of Health: A View from The Policy Sideline.  11.Eco-Socialism as A Strategy for Achieving Social Justice and Planetary Health: A Critical Anthropological Perspective.  12.Advocacy in Public Health: A Tale of Three Cases.