Weathering: The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life on the Body in an Unjust Society

Author: Dr Arline Geronimus

Number of Pages: 368

‘Monumental ‘ IBRAM X. KENDI ‘Eloquent, comprehensive and compassionate’ LINDA VILLAROSA ‘Superbly insightful’ HARRIET A. WASHINGTON Fusing science and social justice, Weathering offers an urgent and necessary exploration of how systemic injustice erodes the health of marginalized people. Renowned public health researcher Dr Arline T. Geronimus coined the term ‘weathering’ to describe what public health statistics have long evidenced: systemic injustice takes a physical, oftentimes deadly, toll on Black, brown, working class and poor communities. They are disproportionately more likely to suffer from chronic diseases and die at much younger ages than their middle- and upper-class white counterparts. Weathering argues that health and ageing have more to do with how society treats us than how well we take care of ourselves. It reveals what happens to human bodies as they attempt to withstand and overcome the challenges that society leverages at them, and details how this process ravages health. Until now, there has been little discussion about the insidious effects of social injustice on the body. Weathering shifts the paradigm and provides compelling solutions, shining a light on the topic and offering a roadmap for hope.