Re-politicize Health: Intersected Inequities in Health Knowledge Production and Application

• In Event: 50462 - Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 8: Epistemologies

Abstract

This paper critically synthesizes interdisciplinary scholarship on embedded inequities in medical and health knowledge production and application. Using an intersectional framework, it examines how race, gender, class, and other social factors shape experiences in health, medicine, and technology. The central questions include: (1) How does state political sovereignty influence inequities in health knowledge production? (2) How does social epidemiology both advance and hinder health equity? (3) How do health technologies, as applications of health knowledge, reinforce inequities? The analysis spans macro-level socio-political theories, which highlight state-driven power-knowledge dynamics, and micro-level epidemiological theories, which expose mechanisms of health inequities. Health disparities result from structural oppression across time, with immediate inequalities appearing context-dependent. Following Kawachi et al. (2002), this paper defines health inequity as systemic injustice, distinct from health inequality, which focuses on differences in health outcomes. For example, the Black-White maternal mortality gap reveals both inequity and inequality: access barriers explain immediate disparities, but structural racism and sexism perpetuate these risks over time. An intersectional approach interrogates dominant theories that often overlook interconnected oppressions. As Carbado et al. (2013) and Roberts and Jesudason (2013) argue, intersectionality is a continuous, evolving framework for identifying new forms of inequity. This analysis centers on low-income women of color as a case study. The paper is structured into three sections: (1) macro-level theories on medical knowledge and state power, (2) social epidemiology’s role in shaping health inequities, and (3) health technology’s role in perpetuating scientific racism. By synthesizing these perspectives, this paper argues that health inequities are not just disparities in access but reflections of institutionalized oppression across historical and contemporary contexts.

Author

• Manning Zhang, Brandeis University