Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine

Programme (pdf)

One-Day Workshop

Inside/Outside: Intermediaries, Subordinates and the

Practice of Public Health in the British Empire

Friday 5 June

Seminar Room, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine

47 Banbury Road

Disinfecting sufferers of the plague in wooden tubs, Karachi, India.

Photograph, 1897 (Courtesy of the Wellcome Library).

The implementation of public health measures in the colonies was often made possible through intermediaries and indigenous subordinates. For instance, barriers of language and culture necessitated the deployment of those who had knowledge of local customs and traditions. From ‘native’ doctors and hospital assistants to vaccinators, disinfectors and sweepers, indigenous subordinates were indispensable to the enterprise of preventive as well as curative public health. Their role was thrown into sharp relief particularly during epidemic outbreaks and disease eradication campaigns.

While the work of missionaries and local elites has been the subject of historical analysis, that of other intermediaries along with ‘native’ subordinates remains largely understudied. In particular, the position and contribution of civilian subordinate staff outside medical circles and their impact on the execution and making of public health policy has yet to be explored.

This day-long workshop seeks to bring together historians studying the role of intermediaries and subordinates (both European and indigenous) in shaping health and sanitary policies under colonial rule. The goal is to investigate the duties and responsibilities of these previously neglected medical and non-medical personnel and to examine how their position influenced the manner in which they discharged their duties. By analysing their position in different colonial contexts the workshop also aims to shed light on the nature of the colonial state and relations between colonial rulers and subject populations.

Spaces are very limited. To secure a place please contact amna.khalid@sant.oxon.org or ryan.johnson@sant.ox.ac.uk

The prevention of malaria. Photograph, 1910

(Courtesy of the Wellcome Library).

Programme (pdf)

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