Health and Other Unassailable Values

This compelling work offers new ways of thinking about the construction of health as a core value in contemporary society. The book examines how the concept of health carries with it important moral, political and economic understandings and is employed in arguments about how people should think and behave. Bell links the discussion to notions of evidence and ethics and considers how these values bolster each other. The chapters contain a range of case study material, covering topics such as cancer, smoking, e-cigarettes, addiction, genital cutting and obesity. Written in a clear and engaging style, this volume will be of interest to students and scholars working across a number of fields, including medical anthropology and public health