Individualization and inequalities in health: a qualitative study of class identity and health

Social Science & Medicine
Bruce BolamKate Gleeson

Abstract

It has been argued that social class, if not dead, is at least a 'zombie category' in contemporary Western society. However, epidemiological evidence shows that class-based inequalities have either persisted or widened, despite overall improvements in the health of Western populations. This article presents an exploratory qualitative study of the individualization of class identity and health conducted in a southern English city. Findings are presented in consideration of two competing argumentative positions around which participants worked to negotiate class identity and health. The first of these positions denied the significance of class for identity and health and was associated with the individualised heroic and stoic narratives of working class identity. The second position acknowledged the reality of class relations and their implications for health and identity, being associated with structurally and politically orientated narratives of middle class identity. In sum, resistance to class was associated with talk about individual, private experience whereas the acceptance of class was linked to discussion of health as a wider social or political phenomenon. This evidence lends qualified support to the individualization t...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 18, 2013·Journal of Health Communication·Helen LundellChristopher Clarke
Jan 21, 2015·Sociology of Health & Illness·Pauline McGovern, James Y Nazroo
May 23, 2012·Health & Social Care in the Community·Hannah FairbrotherElizabeth Goyder
Mar 4, 2011·The British Journal of Social Psychology·Mark Tarrant, Kathyrn Butler
Nov 23, 2005·Social Science & Medicine·Rosemary DavidsonKate Hunt
Sep 19, 2008·Transcultural Psychiatry·Alison Karasz, Kara Dempsey
Jan 3, 2018·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·James Nazroo
Jul 29, 2018·International Journal of Public Health·Balsam AhmadPeter Phillimore
Oct 19, 2017·Sociology of Health & Illness·Katherine E Smith, Rosemary Anderson
Nov 9, 2018·The British Journal of Sociology·Alex BroomZarnie Lwin
Feb 6, 2008·The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry·Merle SpriggsWayne Hall
Nov 10, 2017·Reproductive Health Matters·Jocelyn DeJongNoha Gaballah
Jun 27, 2020·Family Process·Marlene F WatsonRuben Parra-Cardona
Nov 24, 2020·Health Expectations : an International Journal of Public Participation in Health Care and Health Policy·Sarah AllenRebecca V Harris
Jan 15, 2021·International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health·James E S NolanKim G Harley

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