Epidemiology and the People's Health

Abstract Why a thoroughly updated and revised second edition of this book about theories of disease distribution, in past and present societal and ecological context? Because the lived realities—and ideas, data, and disinformation about—the people’s health are dynamic, not static. Chapter 1 contrasts the critical importance of epidemiologic theory for explaining disease distributions vs. its continued neglect in epidemiological textbooks, which prioritize methods. Chapter 2 through 4 offer historical analysis of a range of epidemiological theories of disease distribution in societal and ecological context, ranging from ancient Greece and China to raging 19th CE debates over miasma vs. contagion and over causes of class and racialized health inequities to the early 20th rise of germ theory, eugenics, and “social environmental” theories, in contention. Chapters 5 through 7 analyze contemporary theories of disease distribution, ranging from the dominant biomedical and lifestyle theories to three sets of social epidemiological alternatives: diverse sociopolitical theories, psychosocial theories, and the ecosocial theory of disease distribution. Chapter 8 offers concrete examples explicating why epidemiologic theory counts when it comes to harm, knowledge, action, and the people’s health, making clear the importance of choice of epidemiologic theory of disease distribution for getting the questions and answers right—or terribly wrong. Explicit use of—and debates over—epidemiologic theories of disease distribution will improve the odds of producing epidemiologic knowledge truly useful for preventing disease, improving the public’s health, and advancing health justice.