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Rethinking McKeown: The relationship between public health and social change

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  • Szreter, S.

Abstract

Thomas McKeown was a rhetorically powerful critic, from the inside, of the medical profession's mid-20th-century love affair with curative and scientific medicine. He emphasized instead the importance of economic growth, rising living standards, and improved nutrition as the primary sources of most historical improvements in the health of developed nations. This interpretation failed to emphasize the simultaneous historical importance of an accompanying redistributive social philosophy and practical politics, which has characterized the public health movement from its 19th-century origins. Consequently, the current generation of public health practitioners are having to reconstruct such a politics and practice following its virtual dismantlement during the last 2 decades of the 20th century.

Suggested Citation

  • Szreter, S., 2002. "Rethinking McKeown: The relationship between public health and social change," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(5), pages 722-725.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:2002:92:5:722-725_3
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    Cited by:

    1. Dora L. Costa, 2015. "Health and the Economy in the United States from 1750 to the Present," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(3), pages 503-570, September.
    2. Eilbert, Kay W. & Lafronza, Vincent, 2005. "Working together for community health--a model and case studies," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 185-199, May.
    3. Guido Alfani, 2022. "Epidemics, Inequality, and Poverty in Preindustrial and Early Industrial Times," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 3-40, March.
    4. José Joaquín García-Gómez & Antonio Escudero Gutierrez, 2018. "The Standard of Living of the Workers in a Spanish Industrial Town: Wages, Nutrition, Life Expentancy and Heigth in Alcoy (1870–1930)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 347-367, November.

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