Methodological challenges in researching activism in action: civil society engagement towards health for all

Bodini, Chiara Francesca; Baum, Fran; Labonté, Ronald; Legge, David; Sanders, David; Sengupta, Amit

doi:10.1080/09581596.2019.1650892

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…A key concern has been to identify and theorise the strategies and mechanisms through which social movements successfully produce social change (Bodini et al, 2020;. Scholars distinguish mechanisms internal to a community to mobilise support and articulate a voice, and strategies beyond the community to create alliances and partnerships with powerful groups to strengthen the impact of the demand (Baum, 2007;Came et al, 2017;Campbell, 2020;Nandi, 2018).…”

Section: Collective Action For Health: 'Success' and 'Failure'mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Grenfell changes everything?’ Activism beyond hope and despair

Cornish

2021

Critical Public Health

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The horror of the devastating Grenfell Tower fire, and the shock that 'it could happen here', in 21st century Britain, led politicians, professionals, and community workers to proclaim that 'Grenfell changes everything'. Affected people, turned into activists by the disaster, committed to ensuring that such a disaster could never happen again, by demanding changes to regulations and policy. Whereas public health literature addressing activism focuses on strategies and conditions for 'successful' collective action, the experience of activism after Grenfell has been characterised by frustrating partial wins, inertia, delay, and setback. This paper seeks to theorise the activist condition of seeking change that is refused and to do so in a way that values the agency and care of (thwarted) activism. Inspired by Haraway's 'staying with the trouble' and critical scholarship on hope, and drawing on three years of knowledge exchange and ethnographic engagement with the community response after Grenfell, I explore the trajectories of six activist change efforts: a fire safety campaign, engagements with a Public Inquiry, campaigns to preserve community assets, community gardening, silent walks, and provision of support to children at a community centre, each addressing social determinants of health and 'staying with the trouble' in different ways. I argue that setbacks do not invalidate a struggle or warrant despair, but that in insisting on caring for others' lives, activism succeeds in instantiating a caring world. Beyond hope and despair is the staying power of communities who value human life and solidarity and keep fighting for them.

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Section: Collective Action For Health: 'Success' and 'Failure'mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Grenfell changes everything?’ Activism beyond hope and despair

Cornish

2021

Critical Public Health

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“…Civil society is generally considered to embrace those social relations and formations that exist outside of state and market relations, and through which people voluntarily undertake collective action for normative and substantive purposes [4,5]. Civil society activism varies across countries, and navigating state, governing and funding bodies and other vested interests can be a tenuous path for many groups [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Health activism is defined in this study as efforts aimed at improving population health and challenging health inequities, whether directed at health systems or at social, economic, political, and environmental determinants of health and which largely sits outside activists' core employment activities [5,6]. Our study follows on from Ollis' earlier work on civil society activism, which underscored the importance of reflecting upon 'the embodied pedagogy of activists who gain knowledge through the practical experience of being in the world of activism' [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global health activists’ lessons on building social movements for Health for All

Musolino

Baum

Freeman

et al. 2020

Int J Equity Health

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Background: The People's Health Movement (PHM) was formed in 2000 and drew inspiration from the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care's 'Health for All' (1978). Since then PHM has been an active part of a global counter-hegemonic social movement. This study aimed to gain insights on social movement building, drawing on the successes and failures reported by activists over their experiences of working in the Health for All social movement to improve health, justice and equity. Methods: Qualitative research methods were employed in this study to capture complex and historical narratives of individual activists, through semi-structured interviews and subsequent thematic analysis of transcripts. The research design and analysis were informed by social movement theory and literature on health activism as a pathway for social change. In this study we examine the semi-structured interviews of 15 health activists who are part of the PHM, with the aim of deriving lessons for strengthening movements for Health for All. Results: This study locates the activists' narratives within a socio-political analysis of the global trends of late modern individualism and capitalist neoliberalism. This highlights the challenges faced by civil society groups mobilising collective action and building social movements for Health for All. The study found that within the constraints of the neoliberal socio-political and economic conditions which have caused the rise in social and health inequities, this group of long-term health activists have been nurturing alternative approaches to structuring society and building collective agency to improve health. Conclusion: The practical long-term experiences of the PHM activists examined in this study contribute to a better understanding of the processes and motivations that lead to and sustain health activism, and the dilemmas, strategies, impacts and achievements of such activism.

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“…Civil society is generally considered to embrace those social relations and formations that exist outside of state and market relations, and through which people voluntarily undertake collective action for normative and substantive purposes (4,5). Civil society activism varies across countries, and navigating state, governing and funding bodies and other vested interests can be a tenuous path for many groups (6).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global health activists’ lessons on building social movements for Health for All

Musolino

Baum

Freeman

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

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Background The People’s Health Movement (PHM) formed in 2000 and drew inspiration from the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care’s ‘Health for All’ (1978). Since then PHM has been an active part of a global counter-hegemonic social movement. From locations across the world including eleven countries, health activists shared their insights on social movement building, drawing on the successes and failures over many decades of striving to improve health, justice and equity. Methods Qualitative research methods were employed in this study to capture complex and historical narratives of individual activists, including semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis of transcripts. The research design and analysis were informed by social movement theory and literature on health activism as a pathway for social change. In this paper we examine the semi-structured interviews of 15 health activists who are part of the PHM, to derive lessons for strengthening movements for Health for All. Results This paper locates the activists’ narratives within a socio-political analysis of the global trends of late modern individualism and capitalist neoliberalism to understand the challenges faced by civil society groups mobilising collective action and building social movements for Health for All. This study found that within the constraints of the neoliberal socio-political and economic conditions which have caused the rise in social and health inequities, this group of long-term health activists have been nurturing alternative approaches to structuring society and building collective agency to improve health. Conclusion This paper draws on the practical long-term experiences of the PHM activists to understand better the processes and motivations that lead to and sustain health activism, and the dilemmas, strategies, impacts and achievements of such activism.

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Methodological challenges in researching activism in action: civil society engagement towards health for all

Cited by 6 publications

References 30 publications

‘Grenfell changes everything?’ Activism beyond hope and despair

‘Grenfell changes everything?’ Activism beyond hope and despair

Global health activists’ lessons on building social movements for Health for All

Global health activists’ lessons on building social movements for Health for All

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