ABSTRACT
Human health exists at the interface of environment and society, and so its prospective possibilities will be shaped by the interactions between social and ecological systems. Future research and practice, therefore, need to concentrate upon the ecological dimensions of health and vulnerability, the socio-political dimensions of human health, and the intersections between the ecological and social dimensions of health. One of the hallmarks of this volume is that rather than approaching these factors separately, each of the chapters engages the intersections between the social and ecological dimensions of human health. These contributions help demonstrate that interrogating the nexus of ecologies and politics of health necessitates engagements between the natural and social sciences to develop an integrated realm of theory and practice. In order to identify future trajectories for ecologies and politics of health, it is important to begin by highlighting key features of this volume. First, Ecologies and Politics of Health centers upon a broadened conceptualization of human health that extends beyond the absence of disease or the individual actor or location. Rather, we argue that health is produced through the interplay between social and ecological processes operating across multiple spatial and temporal scales. This understanding contributes to addressing human health in ways that attend to social and ecological function, security, well-being, equity, and sustainability. Second, this volume demonstrates that research on human health needs to integrate contributions from both the natural and social sciences to address its social and ecological dimensions. We believe that in order to comprehend the realities of human health, interdisciplinary as opposed to multidisciplinary perspectives are needed.
