Inclusion: The Politics of Difference in Medical Research (Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning) - Softcover

Epstein, Steven

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226213102 ISBN 13: 9780226213101

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2009

Synopsis

With Inclusion, Steven Epstein argues that strategies to achieve diversity in medical research mask deeper problems, ones that might require a different approach and different solutions.

Formal concern with this issue, Epstein shows, is a fairly recent phenomenon. Until the mid-1980s, scientists often studied groups of white, middle-aged men—and assumed that conclusions drawn from studying them would apply to the rest of the population. But struggles involving advocacy groups, experts, and Congress led to reforms that forced researchers to diversify the population from which they drew for clinical research. While the prominence of these inclusive practices has offered hope to traditionally underserved groups, Epstein argues that it has drawn attention away from the tremendous inequalities in health that are rooted not in biology but in society.

“Epstein’s use of theory to demonstrate how public policies in the health profession are shaped makes this book relevant for many academic disciplines. . . . Highly recommended.”—Choice

“A masterful comprehensive overview of a wide terrain.”—Troy Duster, Biosocieties

About this title

About the Author

Steven Epstein is professor of sociology and director of the Science Studies Program at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge and coauthor of Learning by Heart: AIDS and Schoolchildren in America's Communities.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226213102
• ISBN 13: 9780226213101
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 425