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The Real War on Obesity

Contesting Knowledge and Meaning in a Public Health Crisis

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  • © 2016

Overview

Authors:
  1. John Boswell

    1. Politics and International Relations, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

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  • Provides an engaging and jargon-free analysis of the discourses surrounding obesity policy

  • Offers a fresh, lively analysis of this contested policy field without getting mired in strong normative claims

  • Analyses the nature of competing knowledge claims rather than advancing one perspective over another

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Introducing the Real ‘War on Obesity’

    • John Boswell
    Pages 1-31

  3. Problem Definition

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 33-33
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    2. Debating Individual Agency

      • John Boswell
      Pages 35-61

    3. Defining the Scope of the Issue

      • John Boswell
      Pages 63-82

    4. Disputing the Problem

      • John Boswell
      Pages 83-104

  4. Policy Engagement

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 105-105
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    2. Representing Knowledge

      • John Boswell
      Pages 107-127

    3. Claiming Knowledge

      • John Boswell
      Pages 129-149

    4. Contesting Knowledge

      • John Boswell
      Pages 151-177

    5. Transmitting Knowledge

      • John Boswell
      Pages 179-200

    6. Conclusion

      • John Boswell
      Pages 201-220

  5. Back Matter

    Pages 221-224
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Keywords

About this book

This book sheds new light on the political battle to define and construct obesity as a policy issue. Through a rich analysis of the debates in Australia and the UK, it develops a nuanced analysis of the competing narratives that actors rely on to make sense of and argue about this issue, and documents how and to what effect they draw on scientific evidence to support their accounts. The real 'war on obesity', it demonstrates, has always been over the meaning and nature of this public health crisis. This insightful work will interest scholars of interpretive policy studies, critical public health and science and technology studies.  






                      

Reviews

“For public health advocates, the sluggish and patchy response to the obvious rising tide of obesity and diabetes is somewhat puzzling and certainly frustrating. John Boswell incisively investigates this stalemate with some insightful research and a set of new perspectives. His diagnosis and remedies may surprise you but, to me, they make very good sense.” (Boyd Swinburn, Professor of Population Nutrition and Global Health at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and Alfred Deakin Professor and Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University, Australia)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Politics and International Relations, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom

    John Boswell

About the author

John Boswell is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Southampton, UK. He conducts research on democratic governance, health policy and interpretive research methodology.    




                          

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Real War on Obesity

  • Book Subtitle: Contesting Knowledge and Meaning in a Public Health Crisis

  • Authors: John Boswell

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58252-2

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: Medicine, Medicine (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-58251-5Published: 09 August 2016

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-84502-6Published: 27 February 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-58252-2Published: 27 July 2016

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XIII, 224

  • Number of Illustrations: 6 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Public Health, Sociology, general, British Politics, Comparative Politics

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