The Legitimacy of Healthcare and Public Health: Anthropological Perspectives

Description

The complex, highly problematic, often thorny dynamics of trust and authority are central to the anthropological study of legitimacy. In this book, this sine qua non runs across the in-depth examination of the ways in which healthcare and public health are managed by the authorities and experienced by the people on the ground in urban Europe, the USA, India, Africa, Latin America and the Far and Middle East. This book brings comparatively together anthropological studies on healthcare and public health rigorously based on in-depth empirical knowledge. Inspired by the current debate on legitimacy, legitimation and de-legitimation, the contributions do not refrain from taking into account the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the health systems under study, but carefully avoid letting this issue monopolise the discussion. This book raises key challenges to our understanding of healthcare practices and the governance of public health. With a keen eye on urban life, its inequalities and the ever-expanding gap between rulers and the ruled, the findings address important questions on the complex ways in which authorities gain, keep, or lose the public’s trust. Contents Notes on Contributors Chapter 1: Introduction: On Legitimacy, Healthcare and Public Safety References Chapter 2: Health Inequalities and Ethics of Responsibility: A Comparative Ethnography Italy: A National or Regional Health Service? Regional Disparities and “Health Migration”: A Vicious Circle Variations of Professional Responsibility The UK: A National Health System Across National Regions NHS Trust, Charities and Patient Groups: A Symbiotic Relationship A “Labour of Love”: The Role of Nurses Pandemic Ruptures and “Broken” Public Health Systems Conclusion: Resilience as a (Misleadingly) Legitimating Argument References Chapter 3: Misgovernance Kills: Italian Evidence A Triple Whammy to the Ordinary Italian Misgovernance Kills 1: Public Health Care from Right to Commodity to Privilege Misgovernance Kills 2: Public Health Hazards Misgovernance Kills 3: Ideologically Misguided Policies A Blunt Note References Video Evidence — Examples Chapter 4: The Fragility of Legitimacy: Access to Health Care in Manantali, Mali Legitimacy in Health Care Mali’s Health Care System Legitimacy in the Early Years of Independence Structural Adjustment and Innovation in Health Care Health Care in Manantali The Situation and Context New Health Care Institutions The Legitimacy of Manantali’s Health Institutions Normative Legitimacy Performance Legitimacy Process Legitimacy Conclusion References Chapter 5: “I Chose This ‘Other Way’”: An Ethnographic Approach to Medical Pluralism Within the Context of Greek Cancer Care Introduction Cancer and Medical Pluralism in Greece The Construction of the Biomedical Subject The Right to (the Right) Choice The “Otherness” Within and During Medical Pluralism The Dangerous “Other” and the Right of Choice Medical Realities Revisited References Chapter 6: Covid-19 Pandemic, Hydroxychloroquine, and Healthcare System in Turkey Introduction A Miraculous Drug A Bag of Pills Drugs as Legal Rights Legitimacy and Pills Conclusion References Chapter 7: Negotiating Power over Human Bodies: Populism, People and the Politics of Health in Delhi Introduction Legitimacy of the Ruler Populism and the BJP Regime The Pandemic and Its Aftermath To Conclude: How Legitimate Is the Present Regime? And for Whom? References Chapter 8: The Poverty of Opportunity: Where Are We Going; Where Have We Been History Repeats Itself The American Health Care System Covid-19 and Poverty The Long Hauler Search for Diagnosis and Treatment Being Sick and Poor Economics and the Search for Legitimate Treatment Conclusion References Chapter 9: The Views of Selected Tennesseans on Universal Health Care as a Right I Had a Dream Story 1. House and Home Story 2. So Sue Me Story 3. Bad Teeth Story 4. Brain Tumor Story 5. Dying Little Girl A Legitimate Right? It Ain’t Necessarily So Déjà Vu All Over Again: The Status Quo Conclusions References Chapter 10: The Biopolitics of Complementary Spiritual Healing in South Korea and Israel Healing Through Lived Religion: The Cosmological Perspective The Healing Potential of Deceased Tsaddikim in Israel The Healing Potential of Spirits and Gods in Korea Healing Through Interaction with Healers: The Performative Aspect The Healing Potential of Tsaddik Veneration in Israel The Healing Potential of Spirit Possession Practices in Korea Healing with and Without Doctors: The Interaction with Modern Medicine Complementing Modern Medicine with Tsaddik Veneration in Israel Complementing Modern Medicine with Shamanic Interventions in Korea Conclusion References Chapter 11: Health Sovereignty in West-Central Mexico: Legitimacy from the Grassroots Introduction Food/Health Sovereignty Top-Down Legitimacy in Mexico Legitimacy and Grassroots Organizing The Research Site Field Methods Talleres Verdes, Green Workshops People Community Purpose The Writing on the Wall Discussion Conclusion References Chapter 12: Disabled People and Access to the Labour Market: The Case of Greece Introduction Limited Citizenship Methodology People with Disabilities and the Labour Market Unemployed People with Disabilities People with Disabilities Employed in the Public Sector People with Disabilities Employed in the Private Sector Self-Employed People with Disabilities Conclusions References Electronic Sources Chapter 13: Managing Public Health in a Fragile Consociation: Lebanon Between Wars, Explosions and the Covid-19 Pandemic Prologue Introduction Theorizing Consociational Legitimacy Traversing the Risks of the Consociational (un)Order Epilogue References Chapter 14: Interrogating the Public Health Approach: Lessons from the Field of Urban Violence Introduction Legitimacy and the Public Health Approach Settings and Methods Diagnosing Urban Violence Treating Urban Violence Recovery from Urban Violence Conclusion References Chapter 15: Maintaining the Health of the Public: Containing the Threat of Terrorist Resurgence in Contemporary Peru Sustaining the Recovery, Surveilling the Public Antecedents Coda References Newspapers Index