Placing the Public in Public Health in Post-War Britain, 1948–2012

Mold, Alex

Placing the Public in Public Health in Post-War Britain, 1948–2012 - Cham Springer Nature 2019 - 1 electronic resource (141 p.)

Open Access

This open access book explores the question of who or what ‘the public’ is within ‘public health’ in post-war Britain. Drawing on historical research on the place of the public in public health in Britain from the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, the book presents a new perspective on the relationship between state and citizen. Focusing on health education, health surveys, heart disease and the development of vaccination policy and practice, the book establishes that ‘the public’ was not one thing but many. It considers how public health policy makers and practitioners imagined the public or publics. These publics were not mere constructions; they had agency and the ability to ‘speak back’ to public health. The nature of publicness changed during the latter half of the twentieth century, and this book argues that the relationship between the public and public health offers a powerful lens through which to examine such shifts.


Creative Commons


English

978-3-030-18685-2

10.1007/978-3-030-18685-2 doi


British & Irish history
History: earliest times to present day
Social & cultural history
Health systems & services
History of medicine

History Great Britain—History Medicine—History Medical policy History, Modern Social history