Journal Articles
Cancer and Capitalism: Towards a Critical Sociological Agenda
Sociology Lens. First published online 2 April 2026
DOI: 10.1111/johs.70043
This article considers the relationship between cancer and capitalism from the perspective of political economy. It argues that this perspective is crucial for producing a critical agenda in the sociological study of cancer, which has otherwise and traditionally neglected the question of capital as social totality. To underline the significance of capital's relationship to cancer as well as sociology's neglect thereof, the article focuses on the world historical juncture of the 1970s, which both transformed the US regime of accumulation and intensified a class struggle over cancer knowledge. It examines the structural basis for the subsumption of cancer as a link in the chain of capital accumulation, as well as the institutional basis for medical sociology's absence from the “cancer wars”. The article concludes that the history of medical sociology reveals important elements which have been systemically excluded, and which must be recuperated as part of a critical agenda that addresses socio-ecological carcinogenesis as well as cancer's subsumption by capital. Foremost are an intellectual commitment to Marxism and a political commitment to anti-capitalism.
Cancer journeys and health practitioners as gatekeepers, brokers, and boundary enforcers
Kevin Dew, Kerry Chamberlain, and Chris Cunningham
Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, First published online February 23, 2026
DOI: 10.1177/13634593261424221
Cancer survival is increasingly prevalent, and the longevity of survivors enable them to provide insights into the experiences of living with cancer. The objective of this article is to consider the roles that health practitioners play that can facilitate or provide hindrances to investigations and cancer treatment following a diagnosis of cancer. From 2020 to 2022, 81 interviews were conducted with Māori and non-Māori throughout Aotearoa New Zealand identified as having survived cancer for a long time, from 4 to 37 years. Three primary roles were identified from the participants’ stories: practitioners as gatekeepers, brokers, and boundary enforcers. We suggest that each of these roles is based on different forms of integrity: professional, personal, and scientific. Findings raise concerns about the potential for the healthcare system to foster iniquitous outcomes and to marginalise those who explore alternative understandings of cancer and its treatment. To better support survivorship the healthcare system could be more expansive in its approach, improve its performance in the capacity to detect cancer signals, particularly in patients with a prior history of disease, and take a more tailored approach to cancer survivorship.
Accessing diagnosis and treatment: The experience of cancer as wrangling with the system
Kevin Dew, Kerry Chamberlain, Richard Egan, Alex Broom, Elizabeth Dennett, Chris Cunningham
SSM - Qualitative Research in Health, Volume 5, 2024
DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmqr.2024.100418
Long term cancer survival is increasingly prevalent, and the consequences are of sociological and clinical interest. In this paper we deploy the concept of wrangling to emphasise the everyday tussle of survivorship and processes of navigating pathways through what can be an unwelcoming environment. From 2020 to 2022 81 interviews were conducted with people, Māori and non-Māori, throughout Aotearoa New Zealand identified as exceptional cancer survivors, living with a diagnosis of cancer from four to 37 years. Categories of wrangling discussed by participants included wrangling with the public drug-buying agency in Aotearoa New Zealand, wrangling between private and public healthcare systems, subaltern wrangling and wrangling across regions. Wrangling could be driven by the person with the cancer diagnosis, undertaken on behalf of that person by others including family and health professionals, and undertaken by the community. We argue that for most people with long-term cancer survival wrangling is a social practice, but the capacity to succeed in that practice is dependent on a range of factors, including levels of economic, cultural, and social capital. The concept of wrangling provides a contrast to an overemphasis in the survivorship literature on cancer as an individual experience; one largely disconnected from the art and practice of managing (often unwieldy and flawed) systems of care.
Disruption, discontinuity and a licence to live: Responding to cancer diagnoses
Kevin Dew, Kerry Chamberlain, Richard Egan, Alex Broom, Elizabeth Dennett, Chris Cunningham
Sociology of Health & Illness, First published: 30 May 2024
DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.13797
Although a diagnosis of a life-limiting cancer is likely to evoke emotions, such as fear, panic and anxiety, for some people it can also provide an opportunity to live life differently. This article is based on research undertaken in Aotearoa New Zealand on the topic of exceptional cancer trajectories. Eighty-one participants who had been identified as living with a cancer diagnosis longer than clinically expected were interviewed, along with 25 people identified by some of the participants as supporters in their journey. For some participants the diagnosis provided the opportunity to rethink their lives, to undertake lifestyle and consumption changes, to be culturally adventurous, to take up new skills, to quit work and to change relationships with others. The concepts of biographical disruption and posttraumatic growth are considered in relation to these accounts, and it is argued that the event of a cancer diagnosis can give license for people to breach social norms.