Health and illness in the
neoliberal era in Europe podcast
Increasing inequity is one of the main outcomes of neoliberal policy in Europe and to discuss how this has affected health and healthcare we talk with the editors of a new book: Health and illness in the Neoliberal Era in Europe.
They talk us through their description of the neoliberal era, how austerity policies have affected healthcare systems throughout Europe and what this means for living well in the last years of our life.
Speaker profiles
Jonathan Gabe is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Royal Holloway, University of London. His research interests include pharmaceuticals, chronic illness, health professions and health policy. He has edited or written 14 books (and 2 second editions) and published his research in journals such as Health, Health, Risk & Society, Health Sociology Review, Social Science and Medicine, Sociological Review, Sociology, Sociology Compass and Sociology of Health & Illness. He is a past editor of Sociology of Health & Illness and a past chair of the European Sociological Association RN16, Sociology of Health and Illness. He is also a past President of the International Sociological Association RC15 Sociology of Health and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
Mario Cardano is a full professor of Sociology of Health and Qualitative Methods for Social Research at the University of Turin. His research has tackled two interwoven topics: the relationship between health and society and the methods and epistemologies of qualitative research. In the area of sociology of health, Mario has studied the issue of health inequalities, being involved in a series of international research projects carried out in multidisciplinary teams, composed of both epidemiologists and sociologists. More recently, he has focused his research on mental health, through the study of illness narratives and the ethnographic study of coercion in mental health settings.
Angela Genova conducts research on welfare policies from a comparative regional, national and European perspective with particular attention to social policies and health policies aimed at people with disabilities and those belonging to ethnic minorities. She teaches social policy and health policy in the Department of Economics, Society and Politics of the University of Urbino Carlo Bo. She has acquired skills in the evaluation of public policies and social care/health services by working with colleagues nationally and internationally and by participating in European research and training networks. She has held the position of scientific manager and coordinator of several European projects (Progress, 7th FP, Daphne). These experiences have strengthened her ability to work with universities, charities and social care organisations at a national and European level. She is a past vice-chair of the European Sociological Association Sociology of Health and Illness research network.
- What do we mean by neoliberal and how does this fit in with previous economic eras?
- How have neoliberal policies affected healthcare systems and societies in Europe?
- Ideas such as neoliberal epidemics and the impacts of austerity are discussed.
- How location, gender, and social economic class affect health care systems and how long people live healthy lives into old age.
- Using the Italian Psychiatric Care system as an example we explore how austerity can lead to the exclusion of people who are considered ‘others’.
- What the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed about health care inequalities in Europe.