MACMILLAN Gender, Globalization, and Health in a Latin American Context (Studies of the Americas)

Using a political economy of health, Gender, Globalization, and Health in a Latin American Context demonstrates how the development of health systems in Latin America was closely linked to men's participation in formal labor. This established an inherent male bias that continues to shape health services today. While economic liberalization has created new jobs that have been taken up mainly by women, these jobs fail to offer the same health entitlements. Author Jasmine Gideon explores the resultant tensions and gender inequalities, which have been further exacerbated in the context of health care commercialization. Review “A detailed account of the gendered dynamics of the health sector and exposes the inherent male biases within it, which disadvantage women. … This book makes a strong contribution to better our knowledge on gender policy production, and critiques the way orthodox economic policy frames women and much of their lives. … of great interest not just to health and gender scholars of Latin America but also to students who work on gender and social policy in the Global South.” (Shannon Philip, Progress in Development Studies, Vol. 16 (1), January, 2016)'Jasmine Gideon has filled a much needed gap in understanding the links between globalization and gender relations. Her unique political economy framework demonstrates how important reforms in the health sector in Chile have been constructed on the basis of historic male bias, and contemporary deregulation and marketization of key social services. The book holds important lessons for the rest of Latin America, making it a must-read text for all scholars interested in understanding the dynamics of economic restructuring in a post-welfare world.' Ruth Pearson, University of Leeds, UK'This book is necessary reading for anyone concerned with gender and social policy. Combining case study research in Chile with a wide-ranging review of health and social policy changes across Latin American , Gideon demonstrates unequivocally that gendered legacies in health sectors have combined with newer processes of economic liberalization and commercialization of health to perpetuate, and at times exacerbate, gender inequalities.' Christina Ewig, University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA'This nuanced study effectively combines over-arching analysis with considerable empirical depth. Jasmine Gideon successfully uses a gendered political economy of health approach to give us new insights into the important debates about gender, globalization and health.' Georgina Waylen, University of Manchester, UK About the Author Jasmine Gideon is Senior Lecturer in Development Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London, UK. She is the editor of Migration, Inequality and Health (2013, with Felicity Thomas).