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Whose epidemiology, whose health?

S Wing1

  • 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599-7400, USA.

International Journal of Health Services : Planning, Administration, Evaluation
|May 22, 1998
PubMed
Summary

Scientific knowledge, including epidemiology, is shaped by social context, not purely objective. This can obscure issues like environmental racism and disease emergence, questioning whose health is prioritized.

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Area of Science:

  • Sociology of Science
  • Public Health
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Claims of scientific objectivity are increasingly challenged.
  • Scientific knowledge production is influenced by social and historical contexts.
  • Quantitative methods in epidemiology can shape disease cause recognition.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically examine the social and historical influences on scientific knowledge production.
  • To illustrate how epidemiological approaches can be shaped by corporate interests.
  • To question whose health is promoted by epidemiological research.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of the external context of knowledge production.
  • Evaluation of methodological approaches in posing questions and assembling evidence.
  • Case study of intensive swine production and agribusiness.

Main Results:

  • Scientific knowledge, particularly in epidemiology, is not purely objective but socially constructed.
  • Epidemiological approaches can obscure critical issues like environmental racism and disease emergence.
  • Corporate policy perspectives can influence the framing of public health problems.

Conclusions:

  • It is crucial to critically assess who produces scientific knowledge and for whose benefit.
  • The social and historical context of science must be considered for a comprehensive understanding.
  • Rethinking epidemiological methods is necessary to address broader public health and environmental concerns.

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