How Neoliberalism Shapes Indigenous Oral Health Inequalities Globally: Examples from Five Countries

• Published in: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Main Authors: Lisa Jamieson, Joanne Hedges, Sheri McKinstry, Pauline Koopu, Kamilla Venner
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute 2020
• Subjects: indigenous; neoliberalism; oral health; Māori; aboriginal; Torres Strait Islander; Sámi; Alaskan Native; Native American; First Nations; Inuit; Métis; Canada; Norway; New Zealand; inuit
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238908

Evidence suggests that countries with neoliberal political and economic philosophical underpinnings have greater health inequalities compared to less neoliberal countries. But few studies examine how neoliberalism specifically impacts health inequalities involving highly vulnerable populations, such as Indigenous groups. Even fewer take this perspective from an oral health viewpoint. From a lens of indigenous groups in five countries (the United States, Canada, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand and Norway), this commentary provides critical insights of how neoliberalism, in domains including colonialism, racism, inter-generational trauma and health service provision, shapes oral health inequalities among Indigenous societies at a global level. We posit that all socially marginalised groups are disadvantaged under neoliberalism agendas, but that this is amplified among Indigenous groups because of ongoing legacies of colonialism, institutional racism and intergenerational trauma.