Conceptualizing the Social and Political Context of the Health Workforce: Health Professions, the State, and Its Gender Dimensions

This paper attempts to address the theoretical vacuum that exists within the growing literature on the sufficiency and stability of the health workforce that has dominated health policy agendas worldwide. Conceptualizing the context of the health workforce, and the relationship between health professions and the state more specifically, draws upon critical areas of social theory and health. The sociology of professions literature, and its focus …