Handbook on the Social Determinants of Health

This prescient Handbook brings together expert scholars on the social determinants of health, to examine the living and working conditions that impact the wellbeing of populations across the globe. It provides detailed analyses of international case studies, examining how factors such as class, race, gender, and disability can affect personal experiences.

Applying a critical materialist social science approach, contributors consider the sources and effects of a range of social determinants, their quality and distribution, and how they come to shape health outcomes. They highlight relevant and contemporary areas, including global health, the idea of COVID as a political economy event, and health in a neoliberalizing world. Ultimately, they identify ways to improve health through political and social change.



The Handbook on the Social Determinants of Health is a crucial resource for academics and researchers in the social sciences, including the sociology of health, political economy, political sociology, public policy, and social epidemiology. It will also be of interest to students in medicine and other health professions.