Abstract
In both African and Asian colonies until the late 19th century, colonial medicine operated pragmatically to meet the medical needs first of colonial officers and troops, immigrant settlers, and laborers responsible for economic development, then of indigenous populations when their ill health threatened the well-being of the expatriate population. Since the turn of the century, however, the consequences of colonial expansion and development for indigenous people's health had become increasingly apparent, and disease control and public health programs were expanded in this light. These programs increased government surveillance of populations at both community and household levels. As a consequence, colonial states extended institutional oversight and induced dependency through public health measures. Drawing on my own work on colonial Malaya, I illustrate developments in public health and their links to the moral logic of colonialism and its complementarity to the political economy.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Amsterdamska O. Medical and biological constraints: early research on variation in bacteriology. Soc Stud Sci. 1987 Nov;17(4):657–687. doi: 10.1177/030631287017004004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Baker C. The government medical service in Malawi: an administrative history, 1891-1974. Med Hist. 1976 Jul;20(3):296–311. doi: 10.1017/s0025727300022687. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Davin A. Imperialism and motherhood. Hist Workshop. 1978;5:9–65. doi: 10.1093/hwj/5.1.9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Greenough P. R. Variolation and vaccination in South Asia, c. 1700-1865: a preliminary note. Soc Sci Med Med Geogr. 1980 Sep;14D(3):345–347. doi: 10.1016/0160-8002(80)90047-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Harrison M. Tropical medicine in nineteenth-century India. Br J Hist Sci. 1992 Sep;25(86 Pt 3):299–318. doi: 10.1017/s0007087400029137. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Silva K. T. Malaria eradication as a legacy of colonial discourse: the case of Sri Lanka. Parassitologia. 1994 Aug;36(1-2):149–163. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]