Abstract

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Strong and positive associations between the dimensions of socioeconomic status (educational attainment, income, occupation) and individual health are plentiful in the health determinants literature. Towards providing theoretical explanations for these associations researchers have recently turned to broadly conceived conceptions of capital. In particular, associations between health and each of economic capital, social capital and cultural capital, as well as interplays between these forms of capital as producers of health, have received attention. This session will showcase new research on capitals and health. We explicitly invite contributions from different perspectives: quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods and (especially) theoretical. This session will contribute to the health inequalities discourse by promoting the exchange between theoretically and empirically oriented researchers in the field of capitals and health.

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Session organizer(s)

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Gerry Veenstra (CA) – is Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto in 2006 and the University of Bern in 2013. He is a medical sociologist with three primary areas of research interest: the application of Bourdieu’s theory of symbolic power to health-related factors in Canada, Switzerland and South Korea, racial health inequalities in Canada, and intersections between race, class, gender and sexuality as determinants of health.

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Thomas Abel (CH) - is Professor for Health Research at ISPM, University of Bern, Switzerland. Previously he held appointments at universities in Munich (Germany), Marburg (Germany) and Illinois (USA). He was Visiting Professor at Univ. de Montreal in 2005 and UBC-Vancouver in 2012. A medical sociologist with a focus on structure-agency perspectives, his research program addresses issues of social stratification and inequalities in health and health behaviours.  Thomas Abel has published widely on theoretical and empirical challenges in applying social science in public health.

 

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