Precarity and Health

Issue Editor: Marina Gold, Mundo Sano and University of Zurich

If Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) or infectious diseases of poverty were underfunded and politically marginalized in the past, the Covid-19 pandemic has only deepened the impact of inequality on health. Many of the concerns being discussed around equity of vaccine access, economic impacts of health inequalities, and the importance of a global approach to health within the context of the pandemic, were always core concerns surrounding NTDs. Ironically, instead of drawing on the experiences of those working around global health issues and the impacts of precarity on health, the pandemic has widened the gap even further, marginalizing many other health-related themes, and highlighting the structures of power that articulate public interest and mobilize funding.

As enshrined in the WHO Constitution, the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being, without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition. The World Health Organization argues that health investments translate into economic development, and conversely, neglecting health care increases chronic poverty.

The connection between precarity and (lack of) health is clear. However, as noted by Dr. Paul Farmer, physician, medical anthropologist and major figure in efforts to link health and human rights, it is also clear that the liberal political agenda “rarely includes the powerless, the destitute, the truly disadvantaged.” Neoliberal policies and ideologies call for the subjugation of political and social life to the interests of the market, which rarely functions in the interests of the poor. The structural connections between precarity and health – and the political economy of access to health care – are clearly embodied in the cases of neglected tropical diseases (NTD), as these illustrate that determinants of health extend beyond the biomedical contributions to the curing of disease. NTDs reveal the importance of structural social justice in addressing health concerns, and evidence the complex network of players (from local organizations to global corporations) that determine the access to health.

A focus on NTDs as catalysts to analyze the connections between precarity and health in Latin America, and for Latin American populations in precarious conditions of migration, allows for the possibility to address broader issues, such as capitalism and health, democracy and health, exclusionary migratory laws and health. Neglected Tropical Diseases, often called diseases of poverty or silence diseases, are deeply embedded within social and political structures of oppression, such as rurality, indigeneity, poverty, migration, race and class. Considering the history of stigma associated with NTDs, and aiming to reconceptualize NTDs in the current pandemic climate, this collection questions some of the taken-for-granted assumptions about NTDs held within biomedical knowledge that help to foster racist rhetoric against disease-carrying migrants. The concept of endemic/non-endemic diseases is irrelevant in a world intensely interconnected with 4 billion travelers a year and an average of 258 million migrants in 2017.

This collection will unpack some of the structural factors that leave marginal populations more exposed to treatable and preventable diseases. It is a crucial concern of this collection to highlight that NTDs are embedded within the larger workings of a global capitalist – and increasingly corporatized – system of power.

We welcome a range of theoretical approaches including critical analysis of development theory, critical analysis of theories of global health, a critical view of the reconfiguration and role of the state and the relevance of the welfare state, the impact of neoliberalism on health (privatization, financialization) and Marxist and subaltern theory.

Possible topics of interest include but are not limited to:

• The political implications of COVID-19 of NTD research and policies

• The role of the transnational pharmaceutical industry in research and availability of treatments for NTD

• The role of the privatization of health insurance in the provision of treatment and support for NTDs

• The role of different governments in developing public health programs that contemplate diagnosis and access to treatment of NTDs

• The role of the non-governmental sector in developing and conducting programs of public health around NTDs

• The disjuncture between ‘endemic’ and ‘non-endemic’ contexts in the understanding of NTDs.

• The impact of democratic structures on the access to health, with a focus on NTDs

• The impact of migration and precarity on people’s capacity to address NTD-related issues

• Structural barriers preventing access to health care in Latin America and for Latin Americans within migration flows

• The role of gender, race, and/or ethnicity in access to health care for NTDs

• The effects of anti-immigrant political movements on access to health care for NTDs for Latin American migrants.

SUBMITTING MANUSCRIPTS

To avoid duplication of content, please contact the issue editors (Marina.Gold@mundosano.org, margogold@gmail.com) to let them know of your interest in submitting and your proposed topic. This call will remain open as long as it is posted on the LAP web site. Submissions are encouraged by May 2022.

Manuscripts should be no longer than 8,000 words of paginated, double-spaced 12-point text with 1-inch margins, including notes and references, using the LAP Style Guidelines available at www.latinamericanperspectives.com under the “Submit” tab where the review process is also described. Manuscripts should be consistent with the LAP Mission Statement available on the web site under the “About” tab.

Manuscripts may be submitted in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. If you do not write in English with near native fluency, please submit in your first language. LAP will translate manuscripts accepted in languages other than English. If you are not submitting in English, please indicate if you will have difficulty reading reviews and/or correspondence from the LAP office in English.

Please feel free to contact the issue editors with questions pertaining to the issue but all manuscripts should be submitted directly to the LAP office, not to the issue editor. A manuscript is not considered submitted until it has been received by the LAP office. You should receive acknowledgment of receipt of your manuscript within a few days. If you do not receive an acknowledgment from LAP after one week, please send a follow-up inquiry to be sure your submission arrived.

E-mail Submissions: send to lap@ucr.edu

Subject Line: Author name – Manuscript for Precarity and Health issue

Please attach your manuscript as a Word Document (doc or docx)

Include: Abstract (100 words), 5 Keywords, and a separate cover page with short author affiliations (less than 130 words) and complete contact information (e-mail, postal address, telephone).

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Issue editor contact information: Marina.Gold@mundosano.org, margogold@gmail.com