Abstract
It is possible to make everyone equal and poor, but it is impossible to make everyone equal and rich. The struggle between the public sector economy and privatisation of public services has been a longstanding worldwide issue, as is the north and south world economical divide. This book deals with the ways by which societies in the global south are increasingly seeking progressive ways of recreating the public sector to deliver public services, including public health, in their countries. The authors describe how this down-up struggle is succeeding in the wake of failing up-down privatisation. Their account is thought provoking and a useful tool for generating debate.
The editor is a professor and founder of Municipal Services Project (MSP), a research initiative, at Queen’s University in Canada that explores public services delivery models throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The MSP held a conference ‘Putting Public in Public Services; Research, Action and Equity in the Global South’ in Cape Town, South Africa, 13–16 April 2014, with speakers from 22 countries and 150 participants – some of these speakers are the authors of these chapters. This reflects the authenticity of the text, as it is a collection of speeches and participants’ discussions.
The contents include four parts: engaging communities and workers, recognising quasi-public actors, promoting equity and democratic control, and financing public services. The chapters focus on issues of public water, waste management, electrification, gender equity, citizenship, renewable energy, and public banks. The emphasis is on building a global pro-public and anti-privatisation movement, with examples from Colombia, South Africa, Guatemala, India, Bangladesh, Uganda, Turkey, Bolivia, and local services in some parts of the United States. The chapter on ‘Public Faith: Christian and Muslim Health Services in Uganda’ is a timely input.
Public Health practitioners, researchers, politicians, and media worldwide would find this well written book an informative, concise, authentic, and debate stimulating resource.