Overview
- 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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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.
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Keywords
Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Problem Definition
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Front Matter
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Policy Engagement
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
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
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