%0 Journal Article
%T Understanding health systems, health economies and globalization: the need for social science perspectives
%A Susan F Murray
%A Ramila Bisht
%A Rama Baru
%A Emma Pitchforth
%J Globalization and Health
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1744-8603-8-30
%X The peer-reviewed, online open-access journal Globalization and Health was established in [2005] with the aim of providing an international forum for high quality original research, knowledge sharing and debate on the topic of globalization and its effects on health, both positive and negative. Within its stated scope the journal recognises the complexity and breadth of topics and the range of disciplinary perspectives required to understand the relationship between globalization and health. In this editorial and special issue we pay attention to the particular contribution of social science. Social scientists, including economists, political scientists and sociologists, have undoubtedly been key contributors to the discussions and theorising about globalization processes since they began to use the term in the [1960]s, long its current widespread use. That theoretical armoury is combined with research approaches that lend themselves well to exploration of the micro, meso and macro forces that confront health systems in the globalizing world, and one would expect to see prominent participation of these disciplines in current published research in this field. The review paper by Bisht et al. [] published in this special issue examines the broader ¡®state of the art¡¯ in this regard using the case of research on India, and gives suggestions for future ways forward. [1] We also undertook a mapping of this journal¡¯s own content in order to track trends, emphases, commonalities and differences in the work published over the first six full years of its operation ( [2005,2010]) and to locate the place of social science within its content so far. Ninety four papers were reviewed for topic, author¡¯s institution, disciplinary perspective, geographical focus, methodology and funding. Topics were then grouped into more general themes.The topic areas of HIV/AIDS and globalization and food, diet and obesity have been consistent themes throughout the early years of the journal, as h
%U http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/8/1/30