jeremy shiffman’s editorial appropriately calls on making all forms of power more apparent and accountable, notably productive power derived from expertise and claims to moral authority. this commentary argues that relationships based on productive power can be especially difficult to reveal in global health policy because of embedded notions about the nature of power and politics. yet, it is e...

the global health agenda has been dominating the current global health policy debate. furthermore, it has compelled countries to embrace strategies for tackling health inequalities in a wide range of public health areas. the article by robert and colleagues highlights that although globalization has increased opportunities to share and spread ideas, there is still great asymmetry of power accor...

the formulation of global health policy is political; and all institutions operating in the global health landscape are political. this is because policies and institutions inevitably represent certain values, reflect particular ideologies, and preferentially serve some interests over others. this may be expressed explicitly and consciously; or implicitly and unconsciously. but it’s important t...

in this paper we emphasize the importance of questioning the global validity of significant concepts underpinning global health policy. this implies questioning the concept of global health as such and accepting that there is no global definition of the global. further, we draw attention to ‘quality’ and ‘empowerment’ as examples of world-forming concepts. these concepts are exemplary for the g...

Shiffman recently summarized lessons for network effectiveness from an impressive collection of case-studies. However, in common with most global health governance analysis in recent years, Shiffman underplays the important role of states in these global networks. As the body which decides and signs international agreements, often provides the resourcing, and is responsible for implementing ini...

a number of individuals and organizations have considerable influence over the selection of global health priorities and strategies. for some that influence derives from control over financial resources. for others it comes from expertise and claims to moral authority—what can be termed, respectively, epistemic and normative power. in contrast to financial power, we commonly take for granted th...

this article agrees with recent arguments suggesting that normative and epistemic power is rife within global health policy and provides further examples of such. however, in doing so, it is argued that it is equally important to recognize that global health is, and always will be, deeply political and that some form of power is not only necessary for the system to advance, but also to try and ...

Global health networks—webs of individuals and organizations linked by a shared concern for a particular condition—have proliferated over the past quarter century. In a recent editorial in this journal, I presented evidence that their effectiveness in addressing four challenges—problem definition, positioning, coalitionbuilding and governance—shapes their ability to influence policy. The editor...

gorik ooms recently made a strong case for considering the centrality of normative premises to analyzing and understanding the underappreciated importance of the nexus of politics, power and process in global health. this critical commentary raises serious questions for the practice and study of global health and global health governance. first and foremost, this commentary underlines the impor...