‘Not in it for huge profits but because it’s right’: the contested moral economies of UK–India exports in health worker education and training

Merz, S., Hunter, B. , Bisht, R. and Murray, S. F. (2024) ‘Not in it for huge profits but because it’s right’: the contested moral economies of UK–India exports in health worker education and training. Sociology of Health and Illness, 46(2), pp. 219-235. (doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.13700) (PMID:37578685)

Abstract

While the growth of global markets in health-related services may have significant consequences for healthcare provisioning and training, it has received relatively little attention from the social sciences. This article examines UK–India, and specifically England–India, exports in health worker education and training as one such global market, drawing on sociological scholarship on moral economies to understand how trading in this field is constructed and legitimated by the individuals and organisations involved, what tensions evolve, and what is at stake in them. We employ a qualitative mixed methods approach using publicly available materials on existing UK–India collaborations and primary data from interviews with key stakeholders in India and the UK, including government departments, arms-length bodies, NHS Trusts, trade associations and private providers. Our analysis illustrates the key discursive strategies used to legitimate engagement in these markets, and the complex and contested moral economies unfolding between and across these stakeholders and contexts. Not least, we demonstrate the conflicting moral sentiments and the boundary work required to realise commodification. Situating cross-border trade in health worker education and training in a moral economy framework thus illuminates the social context and moral worlds in which this evolving trade is embedded.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: The support of the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) Grant Ref: ES/S010920/1 is gratefully acknowledged.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hunter, Dr Benjamin

Creator Roles

Hunter, B.: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing

• Authors: Merz, S., Hunter, B., Bisht, R., and Murray, S. F.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
• Journal Name: Sociology of Health and Illness
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0141-9889
• ISSN (Online): 1467-9566
• Published Online: 14 August 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Sociology of Health and Illness 46(2):219-235
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License