When Misfortune Becomes Injustice: Evolving Human Rights Struggles for Health and Social Equality, Second Edition

When Misfortune Becomes Injustice examines the progress and challenges in deploying human rights to advance health and social equality over the past decades. It argues that the current institutionalized world order is incompatible with realizing the rights of diverse people around the globe and that transformative human rights praxis in health calls for addressing issues of structural inequality and political economy and working across disciplinary silos through networks and social movements.

Format: Hardback
Length: 326 pages
Publication date: 04 July 2023
Publisher: Stanford University Press

When Misfortune Becomes Injustice:
Surveying the Progress and Challenges in Deploying Human Rights to Advance Health and Social Equality Over Recent Decades

Alicia Ely Yamin weaves together theory and firsthand experience in a compelling narrative of how evolving legal norms, empirical knowledge, and development paradigms have interacted in the realization of health rights, and challenges us to consider why these advances have failed to produce greater equality within and between nations. In this revised and expanded second edition, Yamin incorporates crucial lessons learned about the state of global health equity and public health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic, demonstrating just how incompatible the current institutionalized world order—based on neoliberal, financialized capitalism—is with one in which the rights of diverse people around the globe can be realized.

COVID-19 struck a world that had been shaped by decades of disinvestment in public health, health systems, and social protection, as well as privatization of wealth and gaping social inequalities within and between countries, and the evident crisis of confidence in the capacity of democratic political institutions and global governance was deepened by the pandemic. Yamin argues that transformative human rights praxis in health calls for addressing issues of structural inequality and political economy, and working across disciplinary silos through networks and social movements.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the deep flaws in our global health and social systems, highlighting the urgent need for transformative change. The pandemic has exposed the devastating impact of structural inequality, political economy, and the privatization of wealth on the health and well-being of individuals and communities around the world. It has also demonstrated the urgent need for interdisciplinary collaboration and social movements to address these issues.

One of the key challenges in deploying human rights to advance health and social equality is the need to address issues of structural inequality. This includes addressing the root causes of health disparities, such as poverty, discrimination, and social exclusion. It also involves challenging the power structures that perpetuate these inequalities, such as colonialism, capitalism, and patriarchy.

Another challenge is the political economy of health care. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the flaws in our healthcare systems, which are often driven by profit motives and prioritize the interests of private corporations over the needs of patients and communities. This has led to a lack of access to healthcare, inadequate healthcare quality, and high healthcare costs, particularly for marginalized and vulnerable populations.

To address these challenges, transformative human rights praxis in health calls for a multi-faceted approach. It involves working across disciplinary silos to create networks and social movements that can challenge the status quo. It also involves addressing issues of structural inequality and political economy through policy changes, advocacy, and grassroots organizing.

One example of a transformative human rights approach to health is the work of the Global Health Justice Partnership (GHJP). GHJP is a network of organizations and individuals committed to promoting health justice and equity around the world. They work to address issues of structural inequality, political economy, and the privatization of wealth through advocacy, policy changes, and grassroots organizing.

Another example is the work of the World Health Organization (WHO). WHO has recognized the importance of human rights in achieving health and well-being and has developed a framework for promoting health and human rights. The framework includes the right to health, the right to food, the right to work, and the right to education.

In conclusion, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the urgent need for transformative change in our global health and social systems. To achieve health and social equality, we must address issues of structural inequality, political economy, and the privatization of wealth. We must also work across disciplinary silos to create networks and social movements that can challenge the status quo. By doing so, we can create a world where the rights of diverse people around the globe can be realized.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781503633056
Edition number: 2 ed