All Health Politics Is Local: Community Battles for Medical Care and Environmental Health

Health care is political and involves battles over resource allocation, regulations, and public sentiments. Merlin Chowkwanyun's book "All Health Politics Is Local" explores how racial uprisings, local authorities, community health activists, and a national coal boom shaped health in New York City, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and central Appalachia. It shows that health has always been political and shaped by grassroots community battles.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 05 July 2022
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press

Merlin Chowkwanyun's book takes us on a journey to four distinct locations: New York City, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and central Appalachia. Through a regional lens, he explores how racial uprisings in the 1960s led to the creation of new medical infrastructure for marginalized communities, how local authorities battled air pollution that threatened residents' health, how community health activists and bureaucrats fought over control of facilities long dominated by insular elites, and how a national coal boom impacted community ecology and health.

Chowkwanyun's book challenges the notion of a unified national health agenda, highlighting that health has always been shaped by a complex interplay of formal policy, grassroots community struggles, and political maneuvering. He demonstrates how health outcomes are deeply intertwined with social, economic, and environmental factors, and how local contexts can have a significant impact on health outcomes.

By examining the local stories of New York City, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and central Appalachia, Chowkwanyun provides a powerful reminder that health is not just a matter of national policy but also of local actions and decisions. He shows how communities can mobilize to advocate for their health needs, how policymakers can be influenced by grassroots activism, and how the interplay between different stakeholders can shape the future of health care.

All Health Politics Is Local is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the political dimensions of health and the importance of community-driven solutions to health challenges. It offers a nuanced and comprehensive analysis of the complex relationships between health, politics, and society, and provides valuable insights into how we can build a more equitable and sustainable health care system.

Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781469667669