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Article: Epidemics and History: Disease, Power, and Imperialism.(Review)
- Article from:
- Journal of Social History
- Article date:
- June 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Journal of Social History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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By Sheldon Watts (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997. xvi plus 400pp.).
Sheldon Watts argues that the impact of epidemic disease is inseparable from the uses and distribution of power. Adopting a global approach, Watts concludes that most epidemics were made considerably more lethal because of European imperialist policies, including those ostensibly aimed at controlling and eradicating disease. These policies, imbedded in racist and self-serving capitalist rationales, had a long-term effect on the health of the formerly colonized because many of them adopted the values and methods of their oppressors when they took over local battles against epidemic ...