Synopses & Reviews
The third edition of Community Organizing and Community Building for Health and Welfare provides new and more established ways to approach community building and organizing, from collaborating with communities on assessment and issue selection to using the power of coalition building, media advocacy, and social media to enhance the effectiveness of such work.
With a strong emphasis on cultural relevance and humility, this collection offers a wealth of case studies in areas ranging from childhood obesity to immigrant worker rights to health care reform. A andquot;tool kitandquot; of appendixes includes guidelines for assessing coalition effectiveness, exercises for critical reflection on our own power and privilege, and training tools such as andquot;policy bingo.andquot; From former organizer and now President Barack Obama to academics and professionals in the fields of public health, social work, urban planning, and community psychology, the book offers a comprehensive vision and on-the-ground examples of the many ways community building and organizing can help us address some of the most intractable health and social problems of our times.
Dr. Minkler's course syllabus: Although Dr. Minkler has changed the order of some chapters in the syllabus to accommodate guest speakers and help students prep for the midterm assignment she uses, she arranged the actual book layout in a way that should flow quite naturally if instructors wish to use it in the order in which chapters appear.
Review
andquot;Everybody who cares about health and social justice, internationally and in the U.S., should read this book!andquot;
Review
andquot;This wonderful book offers a deeply reflective look at the motivations, ideology, and outcomes of this critical work, telling the stories of true heroes and heroines of American medicine and public health. It is must reading for anyone contemplating international health activism today.andquot;
Review
andquot;Comrades in Health is a pioneering effort, a major addition to the study of global public health, and a new perspective on U.S. domestic health policy.andquot;
Review
andquot;Birn and Brown describe the history of international efforts to improve the health of vulnerable populations as an inherently sociopolitical, leftist, and often communist, endeavor. [The editors] create a coherent picture of the development of international health efforts...and will be an interesting read for more advanced students of public health and political science. Recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;The most haunting lesson in this fine book stems from its call for an ethic of social consciousness in health care work. In this view, the struggle of justice for all is integral to the improvement of individual health outcomes, and it is as fraught with uncertainty and unintended consequences as is the treatment of individual illness. Birn, Brown and their colleagues update an old social medicine lesson that makes this struggle, with its risks, penuries and triumphs, a core professional duty instead of merely a morally praiseworthy individual pursuit.andquot;
Review
andquot;a captivating journey through the political, economic, and social turmoil that embroiled global health care during the 20th century.andquot;
Review
andquot;Perhaps the most interesting lesson in Comrades in Health is in showing how the very term socialised medicine came to be such an imagined existential threat to the US body politic.andquot;
Review
andquot;Minkler has created a volume useful to practitioners and academics interested in working together to produce positive community change. This is a must-read for anyone interested in making a difference in their communities in socially just and equitable ways.andquot;
Review
andldquo;This is an important resource of great value for those studying publicand#160;health, health education, social work, andand#160;theory-based program planning. Minkler's new text offersand#160;insightful overviews, case examples, and a rich appendix of tools.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Minkler has authority in her field and is known for sound scholarship. This is an obvious text for courses in health education and social work both at the graduate and undergraduate levels.andrdquo;and#160;
Review
andquot;The third edition of this comprehensive, excellent book is a welcome resource for public health professionals and social workers interested in the 'art and science' of organizing and building communities. Aand#160;must read for health education students interested in community-related work. Highly recommended.andquot;
Review
andquot;Comrades in Health is important reading for those interested in the global debate surrounding the post-2015 global developmental agenda and future reform of the UN-centric humanitarian system required to address 21st-century human security and social justice.andquot;
Synopsis
Since the early twentieth century, politically engaged and socially committed U.S. health professionals have worked in solidarity with progressive movements around the world. Often with roots in social medicine, political activism, and international socialism, these doctors, nurses, and other health workers became comrades who joined forces with people struggling for social justice, equity, and the right to health.
Anne-Emanuelle Birn and Theodore M. Brown bring together a group of professionals and activists whose lives have been dedicated to health internationalism. By presenting a combination of historical accounts and first-hand reflections, this collection of essays aims to draw attention to the longstanding international activities of the American health left and the lessons they brought home. The involvement of these progressive U.S. health professionals is presented against the background of foreign and domestic policy, social movements, and global politics.
Synopsis
The third edition offers new and more established ways to approach community building and organizing, from collaborating with communities on assessment and issue selection to using the power of social media to enhance the effectiveness of such work. Numerous case studies ranging from childhood obesity to immigrant worker rights to health care reform are provided as well as a andldquo;tool kitandrdquo; of appendixes that includes guidelines for assessing coalition effectiveness, exercises for critical reflection on power and privilege, and such training tools as andldquo;policy bingo.andrdquo;
and#160;
About the Author
MEREDITH MINKLER, DrPH, MPH, is a professor of health and behavior at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, and the founding director of the universityandrsquo;s Center on Aging. She is the coauthor or editor of numerous books, including Community-Based Participatory Research: From Processes to Outcomes (with Nina Wallerstein).
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Part I
1. Introduction: Health Comrades, Abroad and at Home
2. The Making of Health Internationalists
Part II
3. The Perils of Unconstrained Enthusiasm
4. American Medical Support for Spanish Democracy, 1936andndash;1938
5. Medical McCarthyism and the Punishment of Internationalist Physicians in the United States
Part III
6. Contesting Racism and Innovating Community Health Centers
7. Barefoot in China, the Bronx, and Beyond
8. Medical Internationalism and the andldquo;Last Epidemicandrdquo;
Part IV
9. Social Medicine, at Home and Abroad
10. Find the Best People and Support Them
11. Cooperantes, Solidarity, and the Fight for Health in Mozambique
12. From Harlem to Harare
Part V
13. Brigadistas and Revolutionaries
14. Health and Human Rights in Latin America, and Beyond
15. History, Theory, and Praxis in Pacific Islands Health
16. Doctors for Global Health
17. Doctors Across Blockades
Part VI
18. Across the Generations
Notes on Contributors
Index