[Social inequalities in health and power relations: The Covid-19 in Quebec]

This article proposes to clarify the concept of social inequality in health: theoretically first, then by mobilizing it on a specific study field, the Covid-19 pandemic in Quebec during the spring of 2020.It begins with a discussion of various definitions of social inequalities in health and then proposes the following one: these are differences in health observed between several social groups and which result from the power relation(s) between these groups.Applying this definition to the Covid-19 pandemic occurs in two stages. First, power relations that differentiate exposure to the various risks caused by the pandemic are identified: being infected, dying of it, but also seeing one's health affected by the pandemic without necessarily being infected with the new coronavirus. The study of this latter risk requires monitoring exposure to social determinants of health that is unbalanced by the context of the pandemic: income, social network, care and social services, education, stigma.This first step of the analysis considers power relations taken in isolation from each other. The second explores their articulation. Its common thread is the ethno-racial relation, of which are analyzed the links with socio-economic relation. Finally, a systemic perspective of inequalities is drawn, essential for identifying actions to be taken to fight against social inequalities in health.