A Political Economy Lens on Health Inequalities in the 21st Century

The review article "The Political Economy of Health: Revisiting Its Marxian Origins to Address 21st Century Health Inequalities" by Harvey in the February issue of AJPH provides a brief history of the origins of the political economy perspective, with a focus on its application within public health. The article provides a practical "refresher" for public health thinkers and practitioners as to where to locate the essential causes of social epidemiological patterns in health and illness by foregrounding the perennial relevance of concepts within the Marxist tradition. Though concepts such as class cleavage, class struggle, and class exploitation can seem parochial or anachronistic, depending upon their presentation, Harvey reminds us of the key contributions to public health provided by Marx's teachings and their application via Engels, Virchow, and others. In turn, the author advocates a more common and widespread application of Marxian political economy within public health given the framework's peerless utility for "explaining and addressing persistent health inequalities and emerging public health crises under global capitalism.