Unequalizing Citizenship: The Politics of Poland’s Health Care Change

Abstract

This article discusses health care change with respect to the transformation of the social order within Poland and transnationally. It considers the implications for health care equality and the understanding of citizenship, of a process of health care reform which constitutes part of a transition involving the formation of new power asymmetries based on poverty and wealth. Drawing on qualitative research carried out in Nowa Huta, the article shows how health care change has contributed to poverty and how the introduction of liberal democracy has been accompanied by the perception of a loss of health rights.The article questions the language of citizenship which underpins the aspiration for health equality in the EU, and indicates the implications of the occlusion of the politico-economic effects of capitalism in citizenship discourse.