The sociology of health and the NHS

Benbow, David I

doi:10.1177/0038026117701326

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(4 reference statements)

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“…Such logics have only intensified in the context of austerity, a political project accelerated by the 2008 financial crash and marked by the prolonged starvation of public services under successive coalition and Conservative governments. The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is now straining under the weight of market reforms, the effects of which are demonstrably 'detrimental to both health and healthcare' (Benbow, 2017;cf. Basu et al, 2017;British Medical Association (BMA), 2016).…”

Section: Food As Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

‘Glow from the inside out’: Deliciously Ella and the politics of ‘healthy eating’

O'Neill

2020

European Journal of Cultural Studies

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This article examines the branded persona of Ella Mills, founder of the multi-platform, multi-product and multi-million pound food brand Deliciously Ella. It begins from the premise that Mills represents a new kind of cultural intermediary: that of the wellness entrepreneur. Through a discourse analysis of Mills’ own media productions alongside news and magazine features about the entrepreneur, I consider how ‘healthy eating’ is being sold to young women as a means to realise physical and financial empowerment. Commercial entrepreneurship is made to function in tandem with health entrepreneurship, as Mills makes it her business to model a healthy lifestyle and enjoins others to follow this example. The article further examines how the Deliciously Ella narrative perpetuates already dominant understandings of health as a private good and personal responsibility through its emphasis on healing and recovery through food. Relating this analysis to recent debates about the shifting terrain of postfeminism in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, I argue that the spotlighting of Mills elevates self-care as a gendered imperative while obfuscating the classed and racialised privileges that attend this.

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Section: Food As Medicinementioning

confidence: 99%

‘Glow from the inside out’: Deliciously Ella and the politics of ‘healthy eating’

O'Neill

2020

European Journal of Cultural Studies

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“…The NHS' founding principles can be characterised as residual norms to distinguish them from the dominant neo-liberal norms of the contemporary era. 82 Neo-liberal norms include competition, choice and inequality. Neo-liberalism became the dominant ideology after the social democratic consensus disintegrated following economic crises in the 1970s.…”

Section: Freedommentioning

confidence: 99%

An Adornian ideology critique of neo-liberal reforms to the English NHS

Benbow

2020

Journal of Political Ideologies

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In this article, I undertake an ideology critique of reforms to the English NHS within the neoliberal era. The critique draws primarily on the writings of the Frankfurt School philosopher Theodor Adorno. I use the method of ideology critique to explain the influences on and reasons for the reforms, the contradictions in government discourse and policy and the potential reifying effects of the reforms. I also use the method as a basis for conceiving alternatives.Adorno thought that ideology was becoming more positivistic, thereby rendering critique more difficult. I identify both liberal and positivistic elements within the discourse of successive governments pertaining to healthcare. Liberal norms (such as freedom and equality) within government discourse, and the law, concerning healthcare, continue to enable the critique of ideology and are a basis for conceiving alternatives to current neo-liberal policies, which have the potential to reify healthcare and undermine the solidarity underpinning the NHS.

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“…Consequently, government failure to adequately fund the NHS may become increasingly difficult politically. 126 Addressing the Democratic Deficit Market reforms were justified on the basis of empowering patients through furnishing them with choices. However, as Alex Mold notes, "choice was an attractive way to package NHS reform: it was not always about giving the patient more to choose from."…”

Section: Nhs Englandmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Consequently, government failure to adequately fund the NHS may become increasingly difficult politically. 126…”

Section: Nhs Englandmentioning

confidence: 99%

“With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”: Democracy, the Secretary of State for Health and Blame Shifting Within the English National Health Service

Benbow

2018

Int J Health Serv

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The English National Health Service (NHS) has suffered from a democratic deficit since its inception. Democratic accountability was to be through ministers to Parliament, but ministerial control over and responsibility for the NHS were regarded as myths. Reorganizations and management and market reforms, in the neoliberal era, have centralized power within the NHS. However, successive governments have sought to reduce their responsibility for health care through institutional depoliticization, to shift blame, facilitated through legal changes. New Labour's creation of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) and Monitor were somewhat successful in reducing ministerial culpability regarding health technology regulation and foundation trusts, respectively. The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition created NHS England to reduce ministerial culpability for health care more generally. This is pertinent as the NHS is currently being undermined by inadequate funding and privatization. However, the public has not shifted from blaming the government to blaming NHS England. This indicates limits to the capacity of law to legitimize changes to social relations. While market reforms were justified on the basis of empowering patients, I argue that addressing the democratic deficit is a preferable means of achieving this goal.

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The sociology of health and the NHS

Cited by 4 publications

References 5 publications

‘Glow from the inside out’: Deliciously Ella and the politics of ‘healthy eating’

‘Glow from the inside out’: Deliciously Ella and the politics of ‘healthy eating’

An Adornian ideology critique of neo-liberal reforms to the English NHS

“With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”: Democracy, the Secretary of State for Health and Blame Shifting Within the English National Health Service

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