Imperial Contagions Medicine, Hygiene, and Cultures of Planning in Asia |
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| Editor:
| Peckham, Robert
Pomfret, David M. |
| ISBN: | 978-988-8139-12-5 |
| Publication Date: | Mar 2013 |
| Publisher: | Hong Kong University Press
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| Book Format: | Hardback |
| List Price: | AUD $117.00 |
Book Description:
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Imperial Contagions complicates common historical narratives portraying a straightforward shift from older, enclavist models of colonial medicine to newer pursuits of prevention and treatment among indigenous populations and European residents. In a series of essays, the volume shows colonial medicine was not a homogeneous, "on the ground" phenomenon but rather a practice rife with tensions and contradictions. Indigenous elites contested and appropriated Western medical knowledge...
More DescriptionImperial Contagions complicates common historical narratives portraying a straightforward shift from older, enclavist models of colonial medicine to newer pursuits of prevention and treatment among indigenous populations and European residents. In a series of essays, the volume shows colonial medicine was not a homogeneous, "on the ground" phenomenon but rather a practice rife with tensions and contradictions. Indigenous elites contested and appropriated Western medical knowledge and practices for their own purposes, while colonial policies contained contradictory and cross-cutting impulses. Contributors ultimately challenge the long-standing belief that colonial regimes uniformly regulated indigenous bodies and that colonial medicine served as a "tool of empire."