Biomaterial Database

Edwin Chadwick, the market ideology, and sanitary reform: on the nature of the 19th-century public health movement. 1979

K Ringen

This article is an attempt to place the origin of sanitary legislation in England, and its chief proponent, Edwin Chadwick, in the overall dynamics of 19th-century social development. It examines the public health movement in light of the transition of English society into the domination of the market ideology, and the effect that this had on health. Emphasis is placed on explaining the utilitarian movement, of which Chadwick was an instrumental part, and its role in promoting the market system through the enactment of the New Poor Law in 1834. The article suggests that the enactment of sanitary reform in the 1848 Public Health Act was the unplanned reaction to the detrimental effects that the market ideology had on health in the industrial centers. The main intent of this article is to go beyond the prevailing belief that sanitary reform was a humane contribution of publicly spirited men. It concludes that this state intervention was materially necessitated: it was forced by the contradictions inherent in the market system.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007878	Legislation as Topic	Works about the enactment of laws and ordinances and their regulation by official organs of a nation, state, or other legislative organization. It refers also to health-related laws and regulations in general or for which there is no specific descriptor.	Health Legislation,Constitutional Amendments,Health Legislation as Topic,Laws and Statutes,Legislation, Health,Model Legislation,Population Law,Statutes and Laws,Amendment, Constitutional,Amendments, Constitutional,Constitutional Amendment,Law, Population,Laws, Population,Legislation, Model,Population Laws
D011057	Politics	Activities concerned with governmental policies, functions, etc.	Political Activity,Conservatism,Decentralization,Liberalism,Political Factors,Activities, Political,Activity, Political,Factor, Political,Factors, Political,Political Activities,Political Factor
D011203	Poverty	A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community. It is often related to a specific income level.	Federal Poverty Level,Federal Poverty Threshold,Indigency,Low-Income Population,Absolute Poverty,Extreme Poverty,Indigents,Low Income Population,Federal Poverty Levels,Indigent,Level, Federal Poverty,Low Income Populations,Low-Income Populations,Population, Low Income,Population, Low-Income,Poverty Level, Federal,Poverty Threshold, Federal,Poverty, Absolute,Poverty, Extreme
D011634	Public Health	Branch of medicine concerned with the prevention and control of disease and disability, and the promotion of physical and mental health of the population on the international, national, state, or municipal level.	Community Health,Environment, Preventive Medicine & Public Health,Environment, Preventive Medicine and Public Health,Health, Community,Health, Public
D011640	Public Policy	A course or method of action selected, usually by a government, from among alternatives to guide and determine present and future decisions.	Social Policy,Affirmative Action,Migration Policy,Population Policy,Social Protection,Action, Affirmative,Migration Policies,Policies, Migration,Policies, Population,Policies, Public,Policies, Social,Policy, Migration,Policy, Population,Policy, Public,Policy, Social,Population Policies,Protection, Social,Public Policies,Social Policies
D004739	England	A part of Great Britain within the United Kingdom.
D004989	Ethics	The philosophy or code pertaining to what is ideal in human character and conduct. Also, the field of study dealing with the principles of morality.	Egoism,Ethical Issues,Metaethics,Moral Policy,Natural Law,Situational Ethics,Ethical Issue,Ethics, Situational,Issue, Ethical,Issues, Ethical,Law, Natural,Laws, Natural,Moral Policies,Natural Laws,Policies, Moral,Policy, Moral
D012499	Sanitation	The development and establishment of environmental conditions favorable to the health of the public.
D012946	Social Welfare	Organized institutions which provide services to ameliorate conditions of need or social pathology in the community.	Community Services,Services, Community,Community Service,Service, Community,Welfare, Social
D012959	Socioeconomic Factors	Social and economic factors that characterize the individual or group within the social structure.	Economic and Social Factors,Social Inequalities,Social Inequality,Social and Economic Factors,Socioeconomic Characteristics,Factors, Socioeconomic,High-Income Population,Land Tenure,Standard of Living,Characteristic, Socioeconomic,Factor, Socioeconomic,High Income Population,High-Income Populations,Inequality, Social,Living Standard,Living Standards,Population, High-Income,Socioeconomic Characteristic,Socioeconomic Factor,Tenure, Land