Knowledge, Politics and Power in Global Health; Comment on “Knowledge, Moral Claims and the Exercise of Power in Global Health”

Document Type : Commentary

Author

Department of Politics, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

Abstract

This article agrees with recent arguments suggesting that normative and epistemic power is rife within global health policy and provides further examples of such. However, in doing so, it is argued that it is equally important to recognize that global health is, and always will be, deeply political and that some form of power is not only necessary for the system to advance, but also to try and control the ways in which power within that system operates. In this regard, a better focus on health politics can both expose illegitimate sources of power, but also provide better recommendations to facilitate deliberations that can, although imperfectly, help legitimate sources of influence and power.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. Bacon F. Meditationes Sacrae. Whitefish: Kessinger Publications; 1996. p. 67.
  2. Hobbes T. Leviathan. Indianapolis: Hackett Classics; 1994. Ch. 10.
  3. Emerson R. Society and Solitude. Boston: The Riverside Press; 1892. p. 303.
  4. Nietzsche F. The Will to Power: In Science, Nature, Society and Art. New York:  Random House; 1968.
  5. Shiffman J. Knowledge, moral claims and the exercise of power in global health. Int J Health Policy Manag 2014; 3: 297-9. Doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2014.120
  6. Barnes A, Brown GW, Harman S. The Global Politics of Health Reform in Africa: Performance, Participation and Policy. London: Palgrave; 2015.
  7. Brown GW, Barnes A, Harman S, Gruia M, Papamichail A. Discussion Paper 98: Annotated literature review: Africa actors, global health governance and performance based funding. Equinet Africa. [cited Jan 19, 2015]. Available from: http://www.equinetafrica.org/bibl/docs/Diss98PBFLitRevJune2013.pdf
  8. Barnes A, Brown GW. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria: Expertise, accountability and the depoliticisation of global health. In:  Rushton S, Williams O, editors. Partnerships and Foundations in Global Health Governance. Basingstoke: Palgrave; 2011. p. 53-75.
  9. Ooms G. From international health to global health: How to foster a better dialogue between empirical and normative disciplines. BMC Int Health Hum Rights 2014; 14: 36. Doi: 10.1186/s12914-014-0036-5
  10. Barnes A, Parkhurst J. Can global health policy be depoliticized? A critique of global calls for evidence-based policy. In: Brown GW, Yamey G, Wamala S, editors. Global Health Policy. London: Willey-Blackwell; 2014.
  11. Marten R, Hanefeld J, Smith R. Power: The nexus of global health diplomacy Journal of Health Diplomacy 2014, 1 (2). [cited Jan. 29, 2015]. Available from: http://www.ghd-net.org/sites/default/files/martenhanefeldsmith_power (1).pdf
  12. Habermas J. Between Facts and Norms. Cambridge: Polity Press; 1996.
  13. Bruen C, Brugha R. A ghost in the machine? Politics in global health policy. International Journal of Health Policy and Management 2014, 3 (1): 1-4. Doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2014.59
  14. McCoy D., & Singh G., A Spanner in the works?: Anti-politics in global health policy. Int J Health Policy Manag 2014, 3: 151-3. Doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2014.77
  15. Hammer A. Democracy – The real ‘ghost’ in the machine of global health policy. Int J Health Policy Manag 2014; 3: 149-50. Doi: 10.15171/ijhpm.2014.75
  16. Kickbusch I, Lister G, Told M, Drager N. Global Health Diplomacy: Concepts, Issues, Actors, Instruments, Fora and Cases. London: Springer; 2013.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 25 January 2015
  • Revise Date: 29 January 2015
  • Accept Date: 29 January 2015
  • First Publish Date: 01 February 2015

Share

How to cite

Statistics