Race, science and medicine, 1700–1960
نویسنده
چکیده
power. The strength of this book lies in the care with which the definition of colonial medicine is made to interact with the shifting ideologies underpinning the British presence in the Sudan. Colonial encounters are described in a language of accommodated power always modified by the responses and/or collusion of the colonized. In the case of the sleeping sickness camps, authority relied upon the co-operation of the population within and without the camp. Attempts to understand and deal with yellow fever extended the colonial presence, but showed how when it needed to be at its strongest it was, in fact, at its weakest. Bell interprets the governance of the Sudan, via the Foreign Office not the Colonial Office, and the effects of the changing status of Egypt as significant. In the main, as is her intention, the ideologies discussed are those of the colonizers, but there is an appropriate interweaving and questioning of the views of the colonized such as indigenous administrators and Sudanese practitioners of western medicine at various levels in the medical hierarchy. Moreover, Bell provides insights into the opinions of different groups of nonEuropeans as they function amidst the demands of colonial rule and the imposition of external values. In the case of the labourers working on the Gezira cotton fields, perceptions of "Westerners" (immigrants from West Africa) shaped by a medical discourse, are articulated among the local Sudanese. Similarly the appropriateness or otherwise of indigenous midwives is an object of discussion and action among the educated elite in urban centres. Those fearful of the ghost of the imperial apologist might be slightly perturbed by the greater focus on European perceptions. I would argue she has tried and succeeded in illustrating subtlety and diversity in the colonial experience.
منابع مشابه
Minorities’ Diminished Returns of Educational Attainment on Hospitalization Risk: National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
Background: As suggested by the Minorities’ Diminished Returns (MDRs) theory, educational attainment shows a weaker protective effect for racial and ethnic minority groups compared to non-Hispanic Whites. This pattern, however, is never shown for hospitalization risk. Objectives: This cross-sectional study explored racial and ethnic variations in the asso...
متن کاملIs there a role for race In scIence and medIcIne ? by
The term “race” has been used loosely throughout history in many fields. Anthropologists, however, since 1996, have acknowledged that the term race should not be used to describe human populations.1,2 The term is, in fact, a social construct that holds no true medical significance. Often, it is mistakenly used interchangeably with other terms, including “ethnicity.” Begley stated that “... race...
متن کاملThe use of race in medicine as a proxy for genetic differences.
Race is a prominent category in medicine. Epidemiologists describe how rates of morbidity and mortality vary with race, and doctors consider the race of their patients when deciding whether to test them for sickle-cell anemia or what drug to use to treat their hypertension. At the same time, critics of racial classification say that race is not real but only an illusion or that race is scientif...
متن کاملChanges in Biochemical, Strength, Flexibility, and Aerobic Capacity Parameters after a 1700 km Ultraendurance Cycling Race
The purpose of the present research was to study the organic response after ultraendurance cycling race. Selected biochemical, leg strength, flexibility, and aerobic capacity parameters were analyzed in 6 subjects 5 days before and 5 days after completing a 1700 km ultraendurance cycling race. After the race, participants presented a significant decrease in Hb (167.8 ± 9.5 versus 141.6 ± 15.7 m...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Medical History
دوره 44 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2000