How Neoliberalism Sneaks into Critical Public Health

Lucy Aphramor
5 min readJun 30, 2021
Head and shoulder photo of Franz Fanon in tie, shirt, jacket with text ‘they realize at last that change does not mean reform,change does not mean improvement. From The Wretched of the Earth.

Ten years ago I co-authored an article (with Lindo Bacon) where we unintentionally gave neoliberalism a stamp of approval. Our bad. You can read more here. It’s relevant today because it’s still being used to support a critical public health approach intent on ending oppression. But because the error remains unexamined the approach isn’t in fact anti-oppressive.

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Lucy Aphramor

Lucy Aphramor is a radical dietitian and performance poet. They are Associate Professor of Gender, Power, and The Right to Food at CAWR, Coventry University UK.