Anarchism and Health

Most arguments about healthcare begin and end with the State: lobby for better policy, petition drug companies to lower prices, hope the authorities keep the rights they have granted. Ryan Essex asks what happens if we stop asking. Drawing on anarchism's long concern with welfare, freedom and wellbeing, he explores how people might organise for health without hierarchy, bureaucracy or permission.

The ground covered is wide, from the structure of healthcare systems to abortion, mutual aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, DIY medicine and refugee squats. Capitalism, racism, colonialism, transphobia and other forms of domination are treated as connected problems rather than separate ones. Essex cares as much about the deeply imperfect present as about the ideal, and about how we look after one another now. A provocative, thoughtful book for activists, health workers and anyone who suspects the system cannot fix itself.