Main description:

Over the last century, identity as an avenue of inquiry has become both an academic growth industry and a problematic category of historical analysis. This volume shows how the study of medicine can provide new insights into colonial identity, and the possibility of accommodating multiple perspectives on identity within a single narrative. Contributors to this volume explore the perceived self-identity of colonizers; the adoption of western and traditional medicine as complementary aspects of a new, modern and nationalist identity; the creation of a modern identity for women in the colonies; and the expression of a healer's identity by physicians of traditional medicine.

Contents:

1. Bridie Andrews and Mary P. Sutphen Introduction2. Maneesha Lal 'The Ignorance of Women is the House of Illness': Gender, Nationalism and Health Reform in Colonial North India3. David Gordon A Sword of Empire? Medicine and Colonialism at Kingwilliamstown, Xhosaland, 1856-18914. Hilary Marland Midwives, Missions and Reform: Colonizing Dutch Childbirth Services at Home and Abroad c.19005. Philippa Mein Smith New Zealand Milk for 'Building Britons'6. Suzanne Parry Tropical Medicine and Colonial Identity in Northern Australia7. Roy MacLeod Colonial Doctors and National Myths: On Telling Lives in Australian Medical Biography