A dialogue between the concept of the Industrial-Economic Healthcare Complex and the Brazilian Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture

Abstract

The aim of this article is to propose an original dialogue between studies that, bringing together Brazilian public health thinking and a heterodox view of political economy, emphasize the importance of the relationship between health and national development based on the concept of the Industrial-Economic Healthcare Complex (CEIS) and the Marxist analysis of the new mediating social structure of capitalism conducted by the Brazilian Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture (EPC), in which so-called digital platforms have acquired a central position. In this context, a distinction is initially made between a digital platform in the technical sense and the companies that own platforms. Next, an analysis is carried out highlighting the differences and complementarities between the morphology of the Industrial-Economic Healthcare Complex and the model for analyzing the new structure of social mediation. Finally, a brief critique is made of the notion of economic development that preserves the logic of accumulation of the capitalist system.