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 *12th Conference of the European Sociological Association*

*(Prague 25 – 28 August 2015)*



*RN16 - Sociology of Health and Illness*

http://www.europeansociology.org/research-networks/rn16-sociology-of-health-and-illness.html



*General Call*



*Differences and social inequalities in health and healthcare in
contemporary societies*



The area of sociology of health and healthcare has a long tradition of
studies on the issue of health inequalities and of the way(s) our different
(European) societies have dealt with it. This topic remains today a major
public health concern. Indeed, the gap between socio-economic groups is
widening. Inequalities in health and in healthcare are increasing between
countries and between the regions inside of our countries.

To face the current international economic crisis, the prevailing response
of governments has been to reduce social benefits to bring down welfare
spending, which has had an impact on our health services as well as on
families’ and individuals’ forms of caretaking. The processes of
neo-liberalization and commercialization of health care has been
exacerbated.  Access to professional healthcare has become more difficult
for many as in many countries public sector funding is reduced and private
providers enter healthcare in increasing numbers.

Alongside this context of economic recession and welfare shortening, the
deepening and extraordinary acceleration of global processes of political,
social and cultural changes has also impinge on health care. This is
provoking paradoxical situations and zones of tensions, which may give some
insights on how these processes are democratizing (or not) healthcare
systems. For instance, bio-economy is growing while ‘alternative’ healing
practices are increasingly challenging the biomedical model –although still
predominant. The dominance of medical professionals is more and more
contested as healthcare providers diversify their offer of health care and
as “patients” are encouraged to be more active on their own health,
especially in chronic illness caretaking. Distinct -and sometimes
differing- messages on how to promote health or prevent illness
complications coexist nowadays among health professionals. This cacophony
of recommendations is widened by the role that Internet is taking in the
field of health (online healthcare advice, forum, private clinics websites,
personal blogs relating subjective experiences/opinions on health issues,
etc. ).

The forthcoming ESA conference, in Prague from 25 to 28 August 2015, is an
invitation to engage with these fields of inquiry.

What is the current panorama on inequalities of health and healthcare in
our European countries? How far can these be seen as a direct consequence
of “economic and political crises”? To what extent are they a broader
manifestation of global processes of political, social and cultural
changes? Are there other trends helping to explain the widening gap in
health and healthcare?

What are the actual life stories of persons experiencing inequalities in
health and health care and global political, social and cultural changes in
health care in different parts of Europe? What effects exert such
inequalities and global changes on democracy? How communities and
individuals are responding to them? What forms of citizenship are arising
on the field of health and healthcare in such a context?

How should we study them, what novel and innovative theories and methods
are called for?

What ethical issues arise?

The RN16 Sociology of Health calls for papers that apply the sociological
imagination to address the issues of differences and social inequalities in
health of contemporary (European) societies and in the related domains of
health care (covering both physical and mental health and wellbeing) and
public health.





*Specific themes*



*Session Title:** The impact of gender, class and ethnicity on end of life
experiences*

*Session Organizer:* Ana Patrícia Hilário

End of life experiences within sociological research have been described as
largely undifferentiated. Glenny’s Howarth (2007) paper ‘Whatever happened
to social class? An examination of the neglect of working class cultures in
the sociology of death’ drew attention to the fact that sociological
literature has privileged middle-class understandings of end of life over
other understandings. Seven years have passed since the date of its
publication and few scholars have provided insights on how class influences
end of life experiences. The ways in which these experiences are shaped by
gender and ethnicity have also not been given sufficient attention. There
is the need to recognise and acknowledge diversity amongst the dying and
the dying process. We therefore invite contributions, whether theoretical
or empirical, that explores the interplay of class, gender and ethnicity
within end of life experiences.



*Session title:** Sociological perspectives on Obesities: understandings,
interventions and practices*

*Session organizer:* Kàtia Lurbe I Puerto

This session invites contributions that will explore individual’s
subjectivities and embodied experiences and will revisit lay and
professional understandings of obesity’s aetiology, causes, consequences
and caretaking. It also welcomes research bringing new
socio-anthropological insights on dieting, weight loss practice and
bariatric surgery. Moreover it aims to interrogate the political dimensions
of obesity, namely to discuss on the ideological content underlying current
public health programs seeking to tackle the so-called “obesity epidemic”.



*Session Title:** Ethnic minorities in Europe: health inequalities and
policy challenges.*

*Session Organizers:* Angela Genova & Micol Pizzolati

Ethnic minority groups in Europe often present higher risk of health
inequalities with respect to the women and men in the native population.
This is due to living and working conditions, vulnerable socio-economic
status, and to the multiple discriminations they face in relation to their
gender and ethnicity. In the context of austerity and welfare reform
processes in European countries, health inequalities for ethnic minority
groups are at risk of increase.

The physical and mental health conditions of ethnic minority groups and
their health needs are strongly determined by the relationship that arises
between the society of the majority and ethnic minority group themselves.
On the one hand there is their background, shaping the way they look at the
society of the majority and reflecting their culture of origin, their life
experiences, and also their expectations. On the other, there is the system
of the majority and its policies, regulations, services, governance models
and capacity to acknowledge and address their health needs from an
integrated policy perspective. It is the juxtaposition between these two
actors, and the overall bulk of their interrelations, that contributes to
determine the health inequalities suffered by ethnic minority groups in
Europe.

We invite contributions discussing ethnic minority health inequalities in
the context of welfare challenges in Europe focusing on the following and
related aspects:

• The regulatory contexts and access to health care

• The effective provision of services to address the health needs of ethnic
minority groups

• The governance and leadership model shaping the health care policy to
tackle health inequalities for ethnic minorities groups

• The role of integrated welfare policy and local communities in promoting
health for ethnic minorities.

The session invites both internationally comparative papers and national
case studies focusing on ethnic minorities health inequalities and welfare
challenges.







 *Joint sessions*



*Joint session RN-16 Sociology of Health and Illness & RN-1 Ageing in
Europe*

*Session Organizers:* Ana Patrícia Hilário (RN16) & Alexandra Lopes (RN1)

*Session Title:* *The experience of ageing and ill bodies in Mediterranean
countries*



When theorising illness and ageing we should have in mind that it is in and
through our bodies that we first and foremost experience the realities of
being ill and growing old. The experience of ill and ageing bodies in turn
takes places within social settings that shape that experience and that
prescribe the right and the wrong ways of managing the ill and ageing body.
There has been given much attention by scholars from the North and Centre
of Europe on the experience of ill and ageing bodies. Little is known
however about this experience in the Mediterranean. We invite scholars who
have explored the topic of ill ageing bodies within a country or regions of
the Mediterranean to submit their papers for this joint session. We
particularly welcome those who have looked at variations in terms of
gender, class and ethnicity as it will be the intention of this joint
session to debate what are the communalities but also what are the
differentiating factors that shape experiences of ill and ageing bodies in
the Southern part of Europe.





*Joint session RN28 Society and Sports & RN16 Sociology of Health and
Illness*

*Session organizers: *Oli Williams (RN28), Davide Sterchele (RN28), Kàtia
Lurbe I Puerto (RN16) & Micol Pizzolati (RN16)

*Session title:* *Physical Activity, Health & Inequalities*



A constant amongst the social and cultural changes we experience in late
modernity is that our bodies remain manifestations of difference and
inequality. This is particularly true in the cases of physical activity and
health. The ways in which physical activities influence people’s health,
sense of well-being and quality of life are marked by difference. From the
extant divergences in physical cultures along the lines of class, gender,
nationality and religion to the stark differences in participation levels
between social groups: physical activity, health and inequalities are
intimately entwined. This session will focus on how physical activity is
involved in the creation, reinforcement, exacerbation and resolution of
health inequalities. At the same time, attention will also be given to the
ways in which different health conditions influence people’s involvement in
physical activity. Therefore, the session offers an opportunity to consider
the relationships between physical activity, health and inequalities, and
the social consequences of their interplay.

We invite empirical and theoretical papers addressing the following issues
and other related topics:

•  Physical cultures and their effects on health and (in)equality

•  Health inequalities and participation in physical activity

•  Promoting health and addressing inequality through physical activity
interventions

•  The health and physical activity experiences of marginalised groups





*Joint session RN16 Sociology of health and illness and RN19 Sociology of
professions*

*Session organizers: *Kàtia Lurbe i Puerto (RN16) & Teresa Carvalho (RN19)

*Session Title:* *Citizens and professionals: unequal and diversified
healthcare societies.*



Inequalities in health and in healthcare are increasing in contemporary
Europe. The gap between socio-economic groups is widening. In a context of
rising healthcare costs generally and more specifically the global
financial and economic crisis, Nation-states throughout Europe have
responded by attempting to cut healthcare spending and to devolve
responsibility for health from the state on to citizens. In our European
socio-culturally diversified societies, the first populations targeted by
these cutting politics seem to be deprived migrants and in a more indirect
way, poor ethnic minorities. This raises questions about the way in which
stakeholders such as citizens and professionals are responding.

The aim of this joint session is to understand how difference and
inequalities are influencing professions and professionals in healthcare
and the ways in which this relates to the interest of ill-persons and
citizens. This session seeks also to discuss to what extent citizens and
ill-persons can enter into alliances (with or without professionals) to
defend ‘the public good’ and the principle to equal healthcare for all in
the context of economic recession and political crisis.

We invite empirical and theoretical papers addressing the following issues
and other related topics:

•  Differences and similarities in the responses of Nation-states to
inequalities in health and healthcare

•  Professional identity in the context of international financial crisis
and the implications for citizens and ill-persons

•  Potential reconfigurations in health professionals professionalism due
to changes in the health system and organisations

•  Experiences of national, regional and local policies and initiatives for
the defence of the *res publica* and equal healthcare for all

• Responsibility, reasonable spending, empowerment… new morality discourses
in the air of our squeezed health care systems?

• On the *colored *frontiers within European health systems.







*Joint Session RN23 Sociology of sexuality & RN16 Sociology of health and
illness*

*Session Organizers:* Chiara Bertone (RN23) & Micol Pizzolati (RN16)

*Session title:* *Sexual health and the medicalisation of sexuality*



The last years have been witnessing a growing interest in sexual health and
the medicalization of sexuality, also within sociology, raising issues
about changing constructions of femininity and masculinity, life course,
risk. This session aims to provide space for critical thinking, unpacking
the notion of sexual health, and for reflections on the contribution of
sociological perspectives in exploring its intersections with gender, age,
social class and other dimensions of social experience.





*Joint Session RN 16 Sociology of Health and Illness and RN5 Sociology of
consumption*

*Session organizers: *Kàtia Lurbe I Puerto (RN16) and Margit Keller (RN5)

*Session title: **Food consumption, consuming health*



A strong link exists between food production and consumption, eating habits
and health. A constant amongst the socio-economic and cultural changes we
experience in our European societies is that our consumption patterns
remain an expression of difference and inequality. This is observable in
food consumption, which is also influenced by a wide array of actors
holding not only different but differing discourses on “food health”
according to their particular interests (industrials, supermarket chains,
local producers, nutritionists, public health authorities, consumer and
patients associations, media, etc.). This cacophony of health messages and
recommendations is widened by the role that Internet is taking in the field
of health (online healthcare advice, forum, private clinics websites,
personal blogs relating subjective experiences/opinions on health issues,
etc. ). This is provoking paradoxical situations and zones of tensions,
which may give some insights on how these array of voices on food health
are stimulating self-reflexivity (or not) among citizenship, also
democratizing (or not), both consumption and health caretaking. In the
domain of “food health”, the dominance of medical professionals and public
health authorities is indeed more and more contested as healthcare
providers diversify their offer of health care and as “patients” are
encouraged to be more active on their own health, especially in chronic
illness caretaking. Moreover distinct -and sometimes opposing- messages on
how to promote health or prevent illness complications coexist among health
professionals.

The aim of this joint session is to understand how food consumption is
involved in the creation, reinforcement, exacerbation and resolution of
health inequalities. At the same time, attention will also be given to the
ways in which different health conditions influence people’s eating habits.
It will also focus on the ways in the disparity of norms on food health
relates to the interest of ill-persons and citizens. Then, the session
offers an opportunity to consider the relationships between food, health,
difference and inequalities, and the social consequences of their interplay.

We invite empirical, methodological and theoretical papers addressing the
following issues and other related topics:

Food consumption, health and care

Eating in the situation of chronic illnesses

Sociological deconstruction(s) of “Food health” normative discourses

Health consumption and citizenship











*Notes for authors*



Authors are invited to submit their abstract *either to the general session
or any specific session*. Please submit only to one session. After abstract
evaluation, coordinators will have the chance to transfer papers between
sessions where applicable.

Abstracts should not exceed *250 words*. Each paper session will have the
duration of 1.5 hours. Normally sessions will include 4 papers.

Abstracts must be submitted online to the *submission platform*, see below.
Abstracts sent by email cannot be accepted. Abstracts will be peer-reviewed
and selected for presentation by the Research Network; the letter of
notification will be sent by the conference software system in early April
2015.





Abstract submission deadline: *1st February 2015*



Abstract submission platform: *www.esa12thconference.eu
<http://www.esa12thconference.eu>*




-- 

Micol Pizzolati

Research fellow

Università del Molise


http://unimol.academia.edu/MicolPizzolati

skype: micolpizzolati

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