Marxism, Maoism, and Social Change

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68502/2/10.1177_009770047700300201.pd

The borders of booze Britain: alcohol controls and nationality

This paper seeks to understand how United Kingdom alcohol control policies, historically and currently, are both informed by and seek to inform how we conceptualise the nation and nationality. Using the latest minimum price per unit of alcohol policy as a point of departure and setting it the context of over three hundred years of alcohol controls, this paper exposes how the internal contradictions inherent in alcohol regulation are obscured by the deployment of nationalism as a rhetorical devic

Why nurses should be Marxists

The argument that nurses should be Marxists is made by looking at the primary areas of nursing activity in turn, giving an example of how capitalist economic relations negatively impact upon that activity, and providing a Marxist explanation of the reasons why it has that impact. In relation to the nursing activity of health promotion, it is argued that capitalism's generation of social inequality undermines the health of the population. In relation to curative activities, the focus is on how capitalism's reckless pursuit of profit has subverted the sustainability of bactericidal interventions. The argument in relation to comforting and assistive care is that the ownership and control of health services by capitalist corporations undermines therapeutic relationships. Finally, in relation to supportive care, it is contended that capitalism's requirement for a disciplined workforce can compromise healthcare professionals' support of employees. It is concluded that if nurses aspire to have some control over their activities, then it is a good idea for them to avail of Marxism's capacity to identify the socio-economic mechanisms by which capitalism affects nursing care

Worker well-being and the importance of work: bridging the gap

The importance of worker well-being is widely-embraced both in theory and policy, but there are numerous perspectives on what it is, how to measure it, whether it needs improving and if so, how to improve it. We argue that a more complete approach to worker well-being needs to consider workers as full citizens who derive and experience both public and private benefits and costs from working. A broad framework on the meanings of work is used to expand the boundaries of worker well-being to reflect the broad importance of work in human life