Postmodern Politics in America

Since the 1980s American national politics has experienced a shift??from the paradigm of modern politics to the paradigm of postmodern politics. Postmodern politics involves the use of images to emotionally connect with citizens and the staging of pseudo-events and hyperreal spectacles. With the growth of niche identity groups and the increasing intensity of partisanship politics has become fragmented and bipartisanship and consensus building has become difficult. These patterns seem incompatible with democracy. While postmodern politics offers hope that citizens might become involved in politics through the use of digital technologies, to date this has not occurred. The disturbing trend of postmodern politics is to make decision-making less transparent and less accountable and reduce the role of citizen to passive audience member.     

Extending the realm of health policy with a “new public health” approach: A comparative look at the Canadian and Swedish national experiences

Abstract: Modern health‐care systems in OECD countries were built around hospitals and the preferences of organized medicine and are largely focused on acute‐care services and services provided by doctors. Starting in the early 1980s, however, the professionalization in several countries of trades traditionally involved in health promotion, together with the constitution of a group of researchers in social epidemiology and the corresponding development of specialized schools and research centres, brought new actors into health policy‐making worldwide. This led to the extension of contemporary health policy beyond the post‐war bio‐medical model into population health promotion and social policy. This article describes and analyses the means (and limitations) used by Canada and Sweden for extending the action radius of health policies. Results show that national policies in health promotion beyond the health sector contributed above all to developing and legitimizing an official discourse that presents social problems as factors affecting social inequalities in health. Health promotion represented a tool for maintaining central social norms, as national governments were re‐defining their role in social policy. Sommaire: Les systèmes modernes de soins de santé dans les pays de l'OCDE ont été construits autour d'hôpitaux et des préférences de la médecine organisée et sont essentiellement axés sur les services de soins intensifs de courte durée et les services médicaux. Cependant, depuis le début des années 1980, la professionnalisation des métiers traditionnellement impliqués dans la promotion de la santé survenue dans plusieurs pays, associée à la constitution d'un groupe de chercheurs en épidémiologie sociale et le développement d'écoles et de centres de recherche spécialisés ont introduit de nouveaux acteurs dans l'élaboration de politiques en matière de santéà l'échelle mondiale. Cela a entraîné une transformation de la politique de la santé contemporaine, qui a dépassé le modèle biomédical d'après‐guerre pour s'étendre à la promotion de la santé de la population et à la politique sociale. Le présent article décrit et analyse les moyens utilisés par le Canada et la Suède pour étendre le rayon d'action des politiques de la santé et les limites auxquelles ils font face. Les résultats indiquent que les politiques nationales visant la promotion de la santé au‐delà du secteur de la santé ont contribué avant tout à développer un discours officiel qui présente les problèmes sociaux comme des facteurs ayant une incidence sur les inégalités sociales de la santé. La promotion de la santé a représenté un outil pour maintenir des normes sociales nationales, alors que les gouvernements centraux redéfinissaient leur rôle en matière de politique sociale.     

Social Disorganization on Bimini: Impact of the Drug Trade

The study reported here focuses on the impact of the drug trade on the island of Bimini, an island in the Bahamas about fifty miles from Miami, Florida. An anthropological model introduced by Beals (1953) and elaborated by Pelto (1973) was adapted to explain the findings. This model indicates that the introduction of new technology produces a shift in work patterns which can cause shifts in the economic system and social disorganization. The model was modified to include new factors other than technology which influence the economic structure and a mediating factor of change in the authority or power structure in the community. On Bimini, the drug trade was a non-technological new element which increased the economic resources available to the community. These new resources were controlled by members of the community who had had relatively low status. There was a shift in power or a reduction in the authority of the community leaders. The result has been an increased amount of social disorganization. Potential alternative explanations are examined.