Critical Public Health

Public health emergencies are shaped not only by epidemiological dynamics but also by legal, political, and social contexts that influence how risks are governed and experienced. The legal dimension concerns the use of emergency powers, individual liberties, allocation of responsibilities across levels of government, and the protection of human rights during crises. Politically, emergencies test state capacity, leadership, intergovernmental coordination, and the role of scientific expertise in decision-making, and coping with power asymmetries. Socially, public health emergencies both reflect and amplify existing inequalities, as vulnerabilities linked to race, class, gender, and territory shape exposure and continuity of access to care. Trust in institutions, social cohesion, and communication strategies critically affect public adherence to public health measures. The literature emphasizes that effective emergency responses require legal clarity, political legitimacy, and social inclusion, highlighting that public health emergencies encompass a large range of challenges to health systems resilience, from governance to biomedical ones.

Public health emergencies are moments when decisions are made fast, with high stakes and unequal consequences. The legal, political, and social dimensions determine who has the authority to act, whose knowledge counts, and who bears the costs of emergency measures. Internal legal regulations shape what governments can do, such as restrictions or reallocation of resources, while politics influences whether those powers are used transparently, equitably, and in coordination across institutions. Social conditions, in turn, affect who is most exposed to harm and who can realistically comply with public health measures. The literature shows that failures in these dimensions, unclear legal mandates, politicization of scientific guidance, or neglect of social inequalities can undermine response effectiveness, erode public trust, and exacerbate health disparities. Understanding these dimensions is therefore essential not only for managing emergencies more effectively, but also for safeguarding the capacity of health systems to sustain essential public health functions, human rights, and equity during crises, both episodic and chronic.

Public health emergencies are often framed as technical or biomedical problems, yet critical scholarship shows they are fundamentally shaped by legal regimes, political power, and social inequalities. Emergency responses mobilize exceptional legal authorities, reconfigure governance arrangements, and produce uneven social effects that frequently disadvantage already marginalized populations. In line with Critical Public Health’s focus on power, equity, and social justice, this collection invites contributions that critically examine how public health emergencies are defined, governed, and contested across different contexts.

Key subtopics include: (1) emergency laws, exceptional powers, and human rights; (2) political decision-making, expertise, and accountability in crises; (3) social inequalities, vulnerability, and differential impacts; (4) trust, communication, and resistance; and (5) global and transnational dimensions of health systems resilience. Preferred article types include original research articles, critical commentaries, and conceptual or theoretical papers that offer reflexive, interdisciplinary, and justice-oriented analyses of public health emergencies.

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Keywords: Public health emergencies, Emergency governance, Health systems resilience, Social inequalities, Public health regulation

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Prof. Alessandro Jatobá is a Biomedical scientist and health systems scholar with a strong background in computer science and information technology. Has studied the determinants of resilient health system performance for over a decade. Author of the book Health Systems Resilience: Adapting Universality to a Changing World.

Prof. Paulo Victor Rodrigues de Carvalho is a scholar in resilience engineering, human factors, and safety science, with extensive experience in the study of complex socio-technical systems, including healthcare. His work focuses on understanding system performance, adaptation, and safety under conditions of uncertainty and stress. He has authored and edited several influential books and articles on resilience, ergonomics, and systems safety.

Prof. Robyn Clay-Williams is an internationally regarded health services researcher and a leading exponent of Resilient Health Care. Robyn leads a research stream at the Australian Institute of Health and Innovation, Macquarie University, in the field of human factors and resilience in health care. Her expertise is in creating health systems that can function effectively in the presence of complexity and uncertainty.

Dr. Andrew Todd is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Human Kinetics and Ergonomics at Rhodes University, South Africa. His academic work focuses on ergonomics and human factors, with particular interest in occupational health, work systems design, and the application of ergonomics in developing contexts.

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All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo desk assessment and peer review if they can pass the desk assessments as part of our standard editorial process; the Guest Advisor for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 1 April 2027.

Please contact Saniya Qureshi at [email protected]  with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.