Kirjahaku

This 1996 book is a history of health and disease in colonial Malaya from colonisation to the outbreak of World War II. This was a period marked by dramatic economic expansion, rapid population growth and changes in patterns of infection. Drawing on the contrasting environments created by colonial capitalism, the book emphasises the role of medicine in legitimating colonial presence and shows that the ill-health of individual populations was directly related to their social and political climate. Viewing colonial Malaya through a series of complex lenses, the book integrates social and material history, historical epidemiology and demography, as well as theories of political economy, feminism and postcolonialism. In doing so, it offers a compelling account of the history of disease and changing health status under colonialism.

This unique book is a history of health and disease in colonial Malaya from colonisation to the outbreak of World War II. This was a period marked by dramatic economic expansion, rapid population growth and changes in patterns of infection. Drawing on the contrasting environments created by colonial capitalism, the book emphasises the role of medicine in legitimating colonial presence and shows that the ill-health of individual populations was directly related to their social and political climate. Viewing colonial Malaya through a series of complex lenses, the book integrates social and material history, historical epidemiology and demography, as well as theories of political economy, feminism and postcolonialism. In doing so, it offers a compelling account of the history of disease and changing health status under colonialism.

Surface Tensions is an expansive, yet intimate study of how people remake themselves after catastrophic bodily change—the loss of limbs, the loss of function, the loss or replacement of organs. Against a sweeping cultural backdrop of art, popular culture, and the history of science and medicine, Manderson uses narrative epistemology based on in-depth interviews with over 300 individuals to show how they re-establish the coherence of their bodies, identities, and biographies. In addition to offering important new insights into the care, rehabilitation, and rehabituation of post-trauma patients, Manderson’s work challenges conventional ideas about the nature of embodiment and is an important contribution to medical anthropology, disability studies, and cultural studies.

Surface Tensions is an expansive, yet intimate study of how people remake themselves after catastrophic bodily change—the loss of limbs, the loss of function, the loss or replacement of organs. Against a sweeping cultural backdrop of art, popular culture, and the history of science and medicine, Manderson uses narrative epistemology based on in-depth interviews with over 300 individuals to show how they re-establish the coherence of their bodies, identities, and biographies. In addition to offering important new insights into the care, rehabilitation, and rehabituation of post-trauma patients, Manderson’s work challenges conventional ideas about the nature of embodiment and is an important contribution to medical anthropology, disability studies, and cultural studies.