Black Lives Matter: Extended Special Section

When George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, was killed by a White police officer, Derek Chauvin, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA on May 25th 2020, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement led the global response. Part of this response has included individuals and organisations reflecting much more urgently on the systemic character of racism and on what more they might do to challenge it in the areas in which they live and work. The Sociology of Health and Illness (SHI) Editorial Team discussed what our response might be as a journal devoted to publishing original research in medical sociology where a commitment to addressing inequalities in health care is understood as central to our work and yet where there was an awareness of the underrepresentation of research examining and challenging ethnic inequalities and racism in health care. We decided on two immediate actions focused on (i) increasing visibility for existing research in SHI and (ii) encouraging new research