A proper place to live: health inequalities, agency and the normative dimensions of space
Name:
Publisher version
View Source
Access full-text PDFOpen Access
View Source
Check access options
Check access options
Abstract
This paper explores the links between lay knowledge, place and health related social action (or agency) at the individual and collective level. It is based on an analysis of in-depth interviews and neighbourhood survey data across four localities in two cities in the North West of England. The qualitative analysis has identified ‘guidelines’ that we argue provide socially shared understandings of the normative contours of ‘proper places’ which shape the way people respond to the everyday lived reality of places. The quantitative findings suggest that a substantial minority of people, particularly in disadvantaged areas, are exposed to significant dissonance between the normative dimensions and lived experience of place. The analysis points to potential interactions between individual and collective action which may affect the health of individuals and populations and ‘ontological fit’—people’s ability to (re) construct a positive identity despite living in what they and others perceive to be an ‘improper’ place. This is linked to their biographical connections with particular places and the extent to which they can localise problems and people in places at a distance from themselves. The paper contributes to understanding about the processes that generate inequalities in the health experience of people living in sharply contrasting socio-economic circumstances as well as finer-grained health inequalities between the ‘poor’ and the ‘poorest’.Citation
Popay J, Thomas C, Williams G, Bennett S, Gatrell A, Bostock L (2003) 'A proper place to live: health inequalities, agency and the normative dimensions of space', Social Science and Medicine, 57 (1), pp.55-69.Publisher
ElsevierJournal
Social Science and MedicinePubMed ID
12753816Additional Links
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795360200299XType
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
0277-9536ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/S0277-9536(02)00299-X
Scopus Count
Collections
Related articles
- Beyond 'beer, fags, egg and chips'? Exploring lay understandings of social inequalities in health.
- Authors: Popay J, Bennett S, Thomas C, Williams G, Gatrell A, Bostock L
- Issue date: 2003 Jan
- From causes to solutions--insights from lay knowledge about health inequalities.
- Authors: Putland C, Baum FE, Ziersch AM
- Issue date: 2011 Jan 31
- Are rich people or poor people more likely to be ill? Lay perceptions, by social class and neighbourhood, of inequalities in health.
- Authors: Macintyre S, McKay L, Ellaway A
- Issue date: 2005 Jan
- "How the other half live": Lay perspectives on health inequalities in an age of austerity.
- Authors: Garthwaite K, Bambra C
- Issue date: 2017 Aug
- "Power, control, strain": Lay perceptions of health inequalities across England's 'North South divide'.
- Authors: Bernard K, McGowan VJ, Bambra C
- Issue date: 2024 Aug