New Paper: The Civil Rights of Health: A New Approach to Challenging Structural Inequality

New Paper: Harris, Angela P. and Pamukcu, Aysha, The Civil Rights of Health: A New Approach to Challenging Structural Inequality (March 11, 2019). UCLA Law Review, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3350597

Abstract below:

An emerging literature on “the social determinants of health” reveals that a major driver of public health disparities is subordination. This body of research makes possible a powerful new alliance between public health and civil rights advocates: an initiative to promote the “civil rights of health.” Understanding health as a matter of justice and civil rights law as a health intervention has the potential to strengthen public health advocacy. At the same time, understanding social injustice as a health issue as well as a moral issue has the potential to reinvigorate civil rights advocacy. This Article argues that a “civil rights of health” initiative, built on a “health justice” framework, can help educate policymakers and the public about the health effects of subordination, create new legal tools for challenging subordination, and ultimately reduce or eliminate unjust health disparities.