Health and Environmental Politics in the United States: A Historical Perspective

Abstract

Purpose

This chapter examines the historical development of different conceptions of health among environmental activists in the postwar United States.

Methodology/approach

The historical analysis combines archival research with oral history interviews.

Findings

This study argues that applications of “health” to describe the environment are more diverse than generally acknowledged, and that environmental activists were at the forefront of connecting the two terms within broader public discourse.

Originality/value of chapter

This study provides a historical context for understanding the contemporary diversity of perspectives on the links between ecology and health. It illustrates the cross-fertilization between scientists, philosophers, and environmental activists in the 1970s that led to this contemporary diversity.

Citation

Thomson, J. (2013), "Health and Environmental Politics in the United States: A Historical Perspective", Ecological Health: Society, Ecology and Health (Advances in Medical Sociology, Vol. 15), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 127-146. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1057-6290(2013)0000015010