(Re)Acting (to) the crisis: A comparative analysis of crisis framing in obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the UK cost-of-living crisis

Across human and planetary health, the concept of crisis provokes a sense of exceptionalism and sudden diversion from a supposed 'normal' state of affairs. By approaching crises as socially constructed rather than objectively occurring phenomena, we open up paths of enquiry that can help...

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Main Authors: Kathrin Lauber, Nason Maani, Olivia Brown, Rebecca Glover
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Critical Public Health Network 2025-07-01
Series:Journal of Critical Public Health
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Online Access:https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jcph/article/view/80383
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author Kathrin Lauber
Nason Maani
Olivia Brown
Rebecca Glover
author_facet Kathrin Lauber
Nason Maani
Olivia Brown
Rebecca Glover
author_sort Kathrin Lauber
collection DOAJ
description Across human and planetary health, the concept of crisis provokes a sense of exceptionalism and sudden diversion from a supposed 'normal' state of affairs. By approaching crises as socially constructed rather than objectively occurring phenomena, we open up paths of enquiry that can help us to understand what it means to promote, use, or suppress the framing of an issue as a crisis. Actors can create or exploit crisis narratives to define the crisis and specific solution(s) in their interest. Identifying and critically interrogating different crisis framings, however, represents a key challenge. In this paper, we analyse four case studies from across human and planetary health: obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the cost-of-living. Adopting an interpretive lens to interrogate these ‘crisis imaginaries’, we interrogate how crises are constructed through, and reflected in, discourse. We build on existing frameworks to better develop methods to critically evaluate crisis conceptions and understand how these may drive (and be driven by) the commodification of narratives in public health. In paying particular attention to power dynamics, we demonstrate how crisis narratives may obscure longstanding inequities. We conclude by providing recommendations to better inform consideration of the drivers, trade-offs, and wider implications of crisis framing.
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spelling doaj-art-34a3b900013c46d4aec0374abf68abf22025-08-20T15:43:04ZengCritical Public Health NetworkJournal of Critical Public Health3033-39972025-07-0110.55016/ojs/jcph.vi.80383(Re)Acting (to) the crisis: A comparative analysis of crisis framing in obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the UK cost-of-living crisisKathrin Lauber0Nason Maani1Olivia Brown2Rebecca Glover3University of EdinburghUniversity of EdinburghUniversity of LondonLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Across human and planetary health, the concept of crisis provokes a sense of exceptionalism and sudden diversion from a supposed 'normal' state of affairs. By approaching crises as socially constructed rather than objectively occurring phenomena, we open up paths of enquiry that can help us to understand what it means to promote, use, or suppress the framing of an issue as a crisis. Actors can create or exploit crisis narratives to define the crisis and specific solution(s) in their interest. Identifying and critically interrogating different crisis framings, however, represents a key challenge. In this paper, we analyse four case studies from across human and planetary health: obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the cost-of-living. Adopting an interpretive lens to interrogate these ‘crisis imaginaries’, we interrogate how crises are constructed through, and reflected in, discourse. We build on existing frameworks to better develop methods to critically evaluate crisis conceptions and understand how these may drive (and be driven by) the commodification of narratives in public health. In paying particular attention to power dynamics, we demonstrate how crisis narratives may obscure longstanding inequities. We conclude by providing recommendations to better inform consideration of the drivers, trade-offs, and wider implications of crisis framing. https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jcph/article/view/80383health equityframing analysishealth policycomparative research
spellingShingle Kathrin Lauber
Nason Maani
Olivia Brown
Rebecca Glover
(Re)Acting (to) the crisis: A comparative analysis of crisis framing in obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the UK cost-of-living crisis
Journal of Critical Public Health
health equity
framing analysis
health policy
comparative research
title (Re)Acting (to) the crisis: A comparative analysis of crisis framing in obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the UK cost-of-living crisis
title_full (Re)Acting (to) the crisis: A comparative analysis of crisis framing in obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the UK cost-of-living crisis
title_fullStr (Re)Acting (to) the crisis: A comparative analysis of crisis framing in obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the UK cost-of-living crisis
title_full_unstemmed (Re)Acting (to) the crisis: A comparative analysis of crisis framing in obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the UK cost-of-living crisis
title_short (Re)Acting (to) the crisis: A comparative analysis of crisis framing in obesity, climate change, antimicrobial resistance, and the UK cost-of-living crisis
title_sort re acting to the crisis a comparative analysis of crisis framing in obesity climate change antimicrobial resistance and the uk cost of living crisis
topic health equity
framing analysis
health policy
comparative research
url https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/jcph/article/view/80383
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AT oliviabrown reactingtothecrisisacomparativeanalysisofcrisisframinginobesityclimatechangeantimicrobialresistanceandtheukcostoflivingcrisis
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