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  • © 2019

Placing the Public in Public Health in Post-War Britain, 1948–2012

Authors:

  • This open access title explores the changing role of the ‘public’ in public health policy and practice in post-war Britain, through to the present day
  • Focuses on several key issues in twentieth-century public health, including the changing nature of health education, the health survey, the response to heart disease, and the development of vaccination policy and practice
  • Presents a new perspective on the relationship between state and citizen in the post-war period

Part of the book series: Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Modern History (MBSMH)

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
  2. Introduction

    • Alex Mold, Peder Clark, Gareth Millward, Daisy Payling
    Pages 1-6Open Access
  3. The Public and Public Health

    • Alex Mold, Peder Clark, Gareth Millward, Daisy Payling
    Pages 7-32Open Access
  4. Imagining Publics

    • Alex Mold, Peder Clark, Gareth Millward, Daisy Payling
    Pages 33-65Open Access
  5. Speaking Back

    • Alex Mold, Peder Clark, Gareth Millward, Daisy Payling
    Pages 67-97Open Access
  6. Changing Publicness

    • Alex Mold, Peder Clark, Gareth Millward, Daisy Payling
    Pages 99-129Open Access
  7. Conclusion

    • Alex Mold, Peder Clark, Gareth Millward, Daisy Payling
    Pages 131-137Open Access
  8. Back Matter

    Pages 139-141

About this book

This open access book explores the question of who or what ‘the public’ is within ‘public health’ in post-war Britain. Drawing on historical research on the place of the public in public health in Britain from the establishment of the National Health Service in 1948, the book presents a new perspective on the relationship between state and citizen. Focusing on health education, health surveys, heart disease and the development of vaccination policy and practice, the book establishes that ‘the public’ was not one thing but many. It considers how public health policy makers and practitioners imagined the public or publics. These publics were not mere constructions; they had agency and the ability to ‘speak back’ to public health. The nature of publicness changed during the latter half of the twentieth century, and this book argues that the relationship between the public and public health offers a powerful lens through which to examine such shifts.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Centre for History in Public Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK

    Alex Mold, Peder Clark

  • Department of History, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Gareth Millward

  • Department of History, University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Daisy Payling

About the authors

Alex Mold is Associate Professor in History and Director of the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.

Peder Clark is a Research Assistant on the Placing the Public in Public Health project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.

Gareth Millward is a Wellcome Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for the History of Medicine at the University of Warwick, UK.

Daisy Payling is a Senior Post-Doctoral Research Assistant at the University of Essex, UK.



Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

Hardcover Book USD 31.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access