Embodiment and Ecosocial Theory - Interview with Nancy Krieger

Abstract

Nancy Krieger is a Professor of Social Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, where she has been researching the relationship between group-specific disease rates and social inequality. One focus of her areas of specialty is gender-specific aspects of health, in particular on the relationship between biological and social factors in health research (sex-linked biology and gender relations), including in relation to social class, racism, and other societal determinants of health. The relevance of the central concepts in her work, especially “embodiment” and “ecosocial theory,” reaches far beyond the boundaries of health research and could be used to develop a basis for research in all life sciences, as well as interdisciplinary projects on bodies in context. The following interview highlights some central theoretical and methodical aspects of her approach which can offer interesting possibilities for an integrative ecosocial perspective, drawing on social and biological insights regarding the development of bodily features.