Riley and Colleagues Discuss the Link Between Organized Abandonment and Public Health
Posted: 2/14/2024 (CSDE Research)
CSDE Trainee Taylor Riley (Epidemiology) released research with co-authors in Social Science & Medicine, titled “Organized abandonment under racial capitalism: Measuring accountable actors of structural racism for public health research and action“. Understanding the shifting nature of structural racism historically and across institutions is vital for effective action towards racial health equity. While public health research on structural racism is rapidly increasing, most studies are missing the interdependence of policies and institutional practices over time that shape power imbalances and lead to entrenched health inequities. Here, authors discuss Ruth Wilson Gilmore’s concept of organized abandonment — the intentional disinvestment in communities which, in turn, creates opportunities for extraction, revenue generation, and carceral enforcement to fill the cracks of a compromised social infrastructure — to encourage action-oriented public health research that is grounded in history and an understanding of racial capitalism. They present a case example using publicly-available data on redlining, gentrification and policing in Seattle, Washington.