Continuing and developing the argument of Deborah Lupton's "The Imperative of Health", the authors use contemporary socio-cultural and political theory to examine: the notion of citizenship; the concept of the "healthy citizen"; the healthy cities project; and community participation.
Petersen and Lupton focus critically on the new public health, assessing its implications for the concepts of self, embodiment and citizenship. They argue that the new public health is used as a source of moral regulation and for distinguishing between self and other. They also explore the implications of modernist belief in the power of science and the ability of experts to solve problems through rational administrative means that underpin the strategies and rhetoric of the new public health.