Towards an integrated political ecology of health and bodies

Abstract

Political ecology of health (PEH) has become a robust subfield in geography. PEH scholarship deploys diverse theories and methods across analytical realms of political economy, social discourse, and materiality. Yet, within PEH the materiality of the body has been theoretically divided between an affective, visceral approach and one that views the body as a socio-ecological assemblage. We contend these two approaches are not mutually exclusive and might be held in tension for more nuanced analyses. We then analyze non-communicable diseases in India to exemplify this integrated framework’s analytical potentials.