1845 or 2023? Friedrich Engels’s insights into the health effects of Victorian‐era and contemporary Canadian capitalism

Abstract

The Condition of the Working Class in England (hereafter, CWCE) by Friedrich Engels is a masterpiece of urban research not only for its explicit descriptions of the living and working conditions of members of the Victorian‐era working class and their effects on health but also its insights into the sources of these conditions through a political economy analysis. For Engels, the capitalist economic system, with the support of the state apparatus, prematurely sickened and killed men, women and children in its unrestrained pursuit of profits. Our reading of CWCE in 2023 concludes that Engels identified virtually every social determinant of health now found in contemporary discourse with his insights into how their quality and distribution shape health clearly relevant to present‐day Canada. Revisiting CWCE directs our attention to how the same economic and political forces that sickened and killed members of the English working class in 1845 now do so in present‐day Canada. Engels’s insights also suggest means of responding to these forces. We place these findings within Derrida’s concept of spectre and Rainey and Hanson’s concept of trace to show how ideas from the past can inform the present.

Is it premature to formulate recommendations for policy and practice, based on culture and health research? A robust critique of the CultureForHealth (2022) report

“…It is undeniable that cross-sector collaboration and inter-disciplinary working is needed to meet these demands. Improvements in public health will only come about by addressing the root causes of ill-health and health inequities, which has been clear since the seminal work of 19 th century social reformers ( 58 ), and which currently are amply reinforced by the work of Marmot on the social determinants of health ( 59 ).…”