Social Cohesion, Social Inequalities and Health. A Comparison of Neo- Durkheimians, Neo-Weberians and Neo-Marxians Approaches - The aim of the article is to introduce a wide bibliography in the field of social epidemiology concerning the social determinants of health in developed societies. The key point is about the role that the concept of social cohesion held inside the research program of Richard Wilkinson, the main author of the neo-durkheimian approach to the socio-economic determinants of health. Wilkinson, analysing a huge amount of data from several international surveys, suggests a causal relation between level of income distribution, degree of social cohesion and health status of a population. This relationship is consistent with a variety of indicators: life expectation, death rate, specific death rates, infant mortality, etc. To Wilkinson, the more egalitarian societies (societies with less income inequalities and with high level of social cohesion) are the one that show the higher levels of healthy population. Bassi analyses the works of the authors that criticize the neo-durkheimian approach and that adopt neo-marxian or neo-weberian approaches. The former give a central role to the social stratification e to class differences, the latter giving emphasis to the socio-economic status and the self-perception of personal well-being. Finally, the Author presents the researches of those scholars that follow Wilkinson’s analyses with the intention to improve it and to add new variables in the process of explanation. Keywords: social cohesion; social inequalities; health; social theory.
