Global health project


This project analyses diplomacy and global governance regimes at the intersection of health and security, peace and conflict. It examines conflicts over the inclusion of health as a traditional security issue, as well as the evolving conceptualisation of health as a part of human security and human rights discourse.

It has long been recognised that health, peace and security are linked – for example, the preamble to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) constitution, written in 1946, states that ‘the health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent upon the fullest co-operation of individuals and States.’ However, what is more challenging is how regional and international institutions address these issues.

This project uses approaches from anthropology and international relations to look at the transnational linkages amongst actors and the translocal sites in which these regimes exist. The project also examines how local experiences of insecurity and conflict interact with regional and global governance processes.

It aims to:

  • Analyse the work of international institutions at the intersection of health and security, peace and conflict.

  • Examine the relationships between local experiences of insecurity and regional and global governance.

  • Produce policy recommendations based on mixed-methods research, with an emphasis on ethnographic data.
 
 
Staff

Rachel Irwin, Researcher and Head of Project, biography

Caroline Säfström, Research Assistant, biography

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