Employmentweb_low

EMploYMEnt, work, And hEAlth inEquAlitiEs - a global perspective
"to transform the reality, the first step is
often to learn to see with a new way of
looking (and be able to show that way to
others)."
Jorge riechmann
Developing an alternative approach
The bulk of the evidence generated by academic inquiry confers
essential rigour to the generation of knowledge. The interpretation
of this evidence, on the other hand, is far from a value-free process.
Rather, it is perennially influenced by the lens through which the
interpreter views the evidence. Given the complexity of the subject at
hand, the lack of scientific information available, and the limitations
of the systematic review approach, here we provide an alternative.
In our approach, we overcome the major limitations of
systematic reviews by beginning from a realist perspective with a
two-pronged focus on theory building and transdisciplinary
knowledge. First, a focus on theory allows us to clarify the book's
major concepts and to create a theoretical model (see Chapter 4) to
trace complicated processes. We show the pathways along which
key employment relations and conditions, social mechanisms, and
health inequalities interact in a multi-level context. While some
parts of this model have been addressed in various scientific
studies, results have not always been consistent. Additionally, the
scope of these studies has been limited, leaving many gaps in our
knowledge. Therefore, interpretation of findings needs to be
undertaken from a perspective that takes into account the whole
theoretical model rather than a judgment on whether or not a
specific employment condition generates health inequalities. Our
approach recognises the fact that reaching a comprehensive
understanding of global employment conditions associated with
health inequalities is a complex undertaking that requires a
transdisciplinary approach (Gibbons et al., 1994; Somerville &
Rapport, 2000).
Employing a wide range of strategies of inquiry, a variety of
methods, and multiple sources of data and evidence (including
quantitative analyses, qualitative data, and narrative knowledge), we
synthesise the inputs of several disciplines. Therefore, the book is
not just informed by social and public health sciences such as
epidemiology, sociology, and political science. Rather, we also
gather information from different social actors and institutions with
a wide range of global civil society experiences. This provides a way
to include evidence from Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs),
social movements, and other groups or communities from specific
social contexts that have been passed over in traditional scientific
research reports. While sometimes very subjective in nature, this
information also provides important pieces of hidden, or at least less
well known, relevant knowledge.
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