Post- Nietzschian scholarship explores the structural role of power. These authors assume that power is embedded in a complicated system that constrains or enables actors. Previous authors, such as Machiavelli and Kautilya, rested their claims on the inherent power of the sovereign. Moreover, the works of Aristotle and ibn Khaldun, the Biblical texts, and de las Casas's Brief Account noted how the character of the sovereign, be it virtuous or not, shaped the nature of his power. Still other authors, such as Thucydides, wrote on the subject of inter-state power-play.
[...] Before the rise of public health, women's health needs were often left unattended. Maternal and child health programs, though, helped to establish women's autonomy and establish greater gender equity. The manifestation of the power of public health, therefore, rests on slippery slope which can either empower or disempower populations. Frameworks and the deconstruction of episodic power Late modern theorists also assume that the structure of power can be spatially framed and modeled. For Lukes, Gaventa, Bachrach, and Baratz, power analyses depend on the visibility, invisibility, or hidden nature of the relationship in question. [...]
[...] Placing a value on the power of public health, therefore, fluctuates largely across space and time. Who places this value and how she places it further complicates the judgment. The power to control the population's health, either for better or worse, lies in the hands of many and contextually varies in its expression. Appendix 1 The following vignette demonstrates the pervasiveness of public health beyond the private health clinic. Whether public health is promoted through food safety, disease control, traffic safety, environmental protections, or media-sponsored awareness, the quotidian presence of public health practice is palpable. [...]
[...] Paralleling the rising presence of public health practitioners in both the public and private spheres, systemic power analyses claim that state power (here, over its citizens' health) presents itself throughout space and time. In particular, Schmidt's “Realist conceptions of power” explains how structural power theories focus on the relative power distribution within a system. Departing from classical realism, newer structural and modified realist theories note the organization of power as a measurement of its strength. Thus, power distributed throughout the social system, and beyond the state, possessed control in a wider sphere. [...]
[...] The FDA announced approval of a new medication to treat asthma and public health experts are handling possible disease transmission after a recent hurricane hits the southern States. A commercial explains the latest food guide and you start planning what breakfast you would like to eat tomorrow morning. References APHA History and Timeline About us, American Public Health Association. http://www.apha.org/about/news/presskit/aphahistory.htm Bachrach, P. and M. S. Baratz. Faces of Power." American Political Science Review 56, no (1962): 947-952 Bially Mattern, Janice ‘soft power' isn't so soft: representation force and attraction in world politics.” In Power in World Politics, ed. [...]
[...] Public health as bio-power: establishing ownership and value In conclusion, the late modern emphasis on systemic and structural power correlates to the rise of public health as an academic discipline, a professional focus, and a government obligation Although the causal direction of these two phenomena is unclear, the curious development of both the theoretical and applied emphases on structural power is worthy of note. The rise of public goods, perhaps a result of the rise of the welfare state and its institutions, mirrored late modern scholarship on the study of structural power. [...]
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