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The McKeown thesis: A historical controversy and its enduring influence

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  • Colgrove, J.

Abstract

The historical analyses of Thomas McKeown attributed the modern rise in the world population from the 1700s to the present to broad economic and social changes rather than to targeted public health or medical interventions. His work generated considerable controversy in the 1970s and 1980s, and it continues to stimulate support, criticism, and commentary to the present day, in spite of his conclusions' having been largely discredited by subsequent research. The ongoing resonance of his work is due primarily to the importance of the question that underlay it: Are public health ends better served by targeted interventions or by broad-based efforts to redistribute the social, political, and economic resources that determine the health of populations?

Suggested Citation

  • Colgrove, J., 2002. "The McKeown thesis: A historical controversy and its enduring influence," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 92(5), pages 725-729.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:2002:92:5:725-729_6
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    Cited by:

    1. Jon Anson, 2010. "Beyond Material Explanations: Family Solidarity and Mortality, a Small Area‐level Analysis," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(1), pages 27-45, March.
    2. James Foreman-Peck & Peng Zhou, 2021. "Fertility versus productivity: a model of growth with evolutionary equilibria," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(3), pages 1073-1104, July.
    3. Anderson, D. Mark & Charles, Kerwin Kofi & Las Heras Olivares, Claudio & Rees, Daniel I., 2017. "Was the First Public Health Campaign Successful? The Tuberculosis Movement and its Effect on Mortality," IZA Discussion Papers 10590, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Oliver Fritz & Peter Mayerhofer & Reinhard Haller & Gerhard Streicher & Florian Bachner & Herwig Ostermann, 2013. "Die regionalwirtschaftlichen Effekte der österreichischen Krankenanstalten," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46672.
    5. Timothy J. Hatton, 2014. "How have Europeans grown so tall?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 66(2), pages 349-372.
    6. D. Mark Anderson & Kerwin Kofi Charles & Claudio Las Heras Olivares & Daniel I. Rees, 2017. "Was The First Public Health Campaign Successful? The Tuberculosis Movement and Its Effect on Mortality," NBER Working Papers 23219, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Wallace, Robert G. & Bergmann, Luke & Kock, Richard & Gilbert, Marius & Hogerwerf, Lenny & Wallace, Rodrick & Holmberg, Mollie, 2015. "The dawn of Structural One Health: A new science tracking disease emergence along circuits of capital," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 68-77.
    8. Clarkwest, Andrew, 2008. "Neo-materialist theory and the temporal relationship between income inequality and longevity change," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 1871-1881, May.
    9. Paul Clayton & Judith Rowbotham, 2009. "How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate and Died," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-19, March.
    10. Foreman-Peck, James & Zhou, Peng, 2019. "The Demographic Transition in a Unified Growth Modelof the English Economy," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2019/8, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.

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