Thomson, M orcid.org/0000-0002-1570-2481 (2022) Health Inequalities: Law & the Pain of Others. Social & Legal Studies. ISSN 0964-6639
Abstract
Health inequalities are a social injustice experienced globally. State action to address this has generally been insufficient, with inequities persisting, or - as in the case of the UK - worsening. This article contends that social epigenetics has a role in generating more robust state responses and makes two related arguments. First, it is argued that an epigenetic explanation of avoidable health inequalities has the potential to provoke change because it works within the gene paradigm. Second, epigenetics provides an opportunity to challenge a different paradigm, that of the liberal legal subject. This fictive figure has long impoverished understandings of harm and responsibility; including in the context of health inequalities. Martha Fineman’s model of the vulnerable subject is engaged as an alternative to this figure. The original and expansive articulation of the epigenetic landscape - an idea now significantly narrowed – is articulated as a space for an interdisciplinary exploration of the role of epigenetics in securing a state more responsive to inequalities.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2022. This is an author produced version of an article published in Social and Legal Studies. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | health inequalities; inequality; social determinants of health; epigenetics; social epigenetics; genetics; social justice; metaphor |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Law (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 04 May 2023 10:54 |
Last Modified: | 05 May 2023 01:41 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/09646639221123028 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:198798 |