Colonialism and Medicine

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Colonialism and Medicine

• Lecture on 19-11-02

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Med anthropology and history

• Recent development of MA to look at social
  actions in history Medical History has become
  more important as a discipline for MA
• In the process colonialism has been investigated

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AUTHORS and MA on colonialism and medicine

• F FANON 1965 ethnographies without much
  historical dimension, describes culture clash
  between colonial MDs and natives, humiliation and
  hatred. Was criticised by historians for his
  extremist views and harsh statements.
• ARNOLD D 1988 small pox in India variolation
  instead of vaccination variolation usage of
  human antigene which can cause violent outbreak
  of small pox, more dangerous than vaccination,
  vaccination with antigene of cowpox to produce
  antibodies
• VAUGHAN M 1991 and 1994 we cannot make a general
  history of colonialism in Africa. She gives a
  sense of how the other was constructed,
  photography is dehumanising. African sexuality
  was phathologised in scientific, rational ways to
  show that they are naturally abnormal. Colonisers
  termed African women as free. But colonisers
  brought diseases to the colonies ( measles,
  syphillis)
• Aztecs were wiped out by epidemics
• We are still living in the aftermath of
  colonialsim ( see AIDS in the context of
  syphillis in Africa)

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Authors

• COMAROFF1992 gives historical dimension,
  Romanticism of explorers humane imperialism of
  missionaries, state discipline through public
  health. There was only concern that black labor
  forces were not reproduced sufficiently because
  of epidemics. First military medicine developed
  because the army needed to be fit, second
  colonial population, third native labor force
• JEFFREY Politics of health in India
• There is a debate whether early colonialism
  emphasised curative aspects more than preventive
  public health.
• TURSHEN 1984 Marxist perspective social
  agencies produce disease. The author is now an
  activist. The book has an enormous value because
  it emphasises the human agency in the creation of
  the natural environment. She analyses the health
  effects of social relations under the capitalist
  system. Debate ahistorical view on political
  economy by health writers whose view does not
  take into account change of capitalist views.
  give the people their land and thy will be
  healthy Africas continuous poverty is a
  product of colonial history health is a product
  of labor al these views are debatable. Market
  economy in E-Africa was destroyed in 19thc , says
  Turshen. Debatable.
• TAUSSIG 1987 focuses on human interaction
  between colonisers and natives.

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Colonialsim

• healthful savage of Europeans
• the wild is projected into the living, animalism,
  uncivilised, the other gives life energy,
• advocating colonialism in the name of
  humanitarianism and Christianity
• native nakedness became an obsession with
  evangelists
• idea that natives were full of disease,
  although they were described as very healthy
  before epidemics came in
• but colonists assumed that African had always
  been very unhealthy.
• Plantation system promoted political and economic
  power.
• Famines among the locals resulted form their land
  being taken by plantations away from substantial
  farming. Men were laborers, woman could only do
  limited farming, no force to rode the forest
  land, over- cropping on little land, resulted in
  tse tse flies settling in bushes around the
  houses ( ecological niche). Tse Tse epidemic in
  1933 were termed natural disasters not taking
  human agency into account. Also
• calling disease tropical disease where it is
  colonial and poverty related.