In the last two decades of the 20th century, we witnessed a dramatic growth in social inequalities within and among countries. This has had a most negative impact on the health and quality of life of large sectors of the populations in the developed and underdeveloped world. This volume analyzes the reasons for this increase in inequalities and its consequences for the well-being of populations. Scholars from a variety of disciplines and countries analyze the different dimensions of this topic.
IntroductionPART I REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH A Historical Review (1965-1997) of Studies on Class, Health, and Quality of Life: A Personal Account Vicente Navarro PART II CAUSES FOR THE GROWTH OF INEQUALITIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE Neoliberalism, “Globalization,” Unemployment, Inequalities, and the Welfare State Vicente NavarroHealth and Equity in the World in the Era of “Globalization” Vicente NavarroThe Political Economy of the Welfare State in Developed Capitalist Countries Vicente Navarro PART III CRITIQUE OF INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES: WHO, PAHO, WORLD BANK, IMF, UNICEF, AND UNDP Ravaging the Poor: The International Monetary Fund Indicted by Its Own Data Gabriel KolkoWorld Bank Education Policy: Market Liberalism Meets Ideological Conservatism Adriana PuiggrósMarket Commodities and Poor Relief: The World Bank Proposal for Health Asa Cristina Laurell and Oliva López ArellanoNeoliberalism Revised? A Critical Account of World Bank Conceptions of Good Governance and Market Friendly Intervention Ray KielyIn Pursuit of “Growth with Equity”: The Limits of Chile’s Free-Market Social Reforms Pilar VergaraA Fundamental Shift in the Approach to International Health by WHO, UNICEF, and the World Bank: Instances of the Practice of “Intellectual Fascism” and Totalitarianism in Some Asian Countries Debabar Banerji PART IV NEOLIBERALISM AND SOCIAL AND HEALTH POLICY The Mexican Social Security Counterreform: Pensions for Profit Asa Cristina LaurellRemaking Medicare: The Voucher Myth Jonathan OberlanderA Slippery Slope: Economists and Social Insurance in the United States Richard B. Du Boff PART V DEBATE ON PATHWAYS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITIES AND HEALTH Income Inequality, Social Cohesion, and Class Relations: A Critique of Wilkinson’s Neo-Durkheimian Research Program Carles Muntaner and John LynchIncome Inequality, Social Cohesion, and Health: Clarifying the Theory—A Reply to Muntaner and Lynch Richard G. WilkinsonThe Social Class Determinants of Income Inequality and Social Cohesion Carles Muntaner, John Lynch, and Gary L. Oates PART VI ANALYSIS OF PROPOSED SOLUTIONS: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE POLITICAL CONTEXT The Political Context of Social Inequalities and Health Vicente Navarro and Leiyu ShiIs There a Third Way? A Response to Giddens’s The Third Way Vicente NavarroToward an Ecosocial View of Health Richard Levins and Cynthia LopezDevelopment and Quality of Life: A Critique of Amartya Sen’s Development As Freedom Vicente NavarroAre Pro-Welfare State and Full-Employment Policies Possible in the Era of Globalization? Vicente Navarro CONTRIBUTORSACKNOWLEDGMENTS INDEX