Workshop Announcement:

"Towards an International Political Sociology of Health and Medicine"

10 May, 2012

Hosted by: the Centre for Global Health Policy (The University of Sussex) & the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (The University of Manchester) www.hcri.ac.uk 

Please note: the workshop will be held at Sussex University, Brighton, UK.

With some notable exceptions, the study of health has historically suffered a strange neglect in the field of International Relations. At the same time, studies of the sociology of health and medicine have often not engaged directly with the international political dimensions of heath and medicine. Over the past decade this has begun to change, with the last two years alone witnessing a significant number of new works being published on the topic of health, medicine, and global politics (see, for example, Davies 2010, Elbe 2010, Howell 2011, Rushton & Williams eds. 2011, Weir & Mykhalovskiy 2010,  Lee & McInnes forthcoming, etc.).  Given this surge of interest in the international political sociology of health and medicine, the workshop will explore new avenues of research emerging in this field and will consider the following questions: What can the study of health and medicine tell us about the workings of international relations, security and global governance. What can an international approach offer in terms of advancing the sociology of health and medicine?  What are the most pressing questions now in the study of health and medicine, and what questions arise specifically when they are approached as a matter of international political sociology?

Speakers will include:

• Sara Davies (Centre for Governance and Public Policy, Griffith University, Australia)

• Lorna Weir (Sociology, York University, Canada)

• Simon Rushton & Colin McInnes (Centre for Health and International Relations, Aberystwyth, UK)

• Alison Howell (Humanitarianism and Conflict Response Institute, Manchester, UK)

• Colleen Bell (Political Science, Brock University, Canada)

• Stefan Elbe (Centre for Global Health Policy, Sussex, UK)

IPS Participants [DOCX 20.64KB]

For further information on the event, please contact the workshop organisers: Stefan Elbe and Alison Howell at S.Elbe@sussex.ac.uk and alisonr.howell@manchester.ac.uk