Medicine

Brutal treatments

Medicine and colonial violence at the end of empire

by Russell T. Moul

Description

Brutal treatments explores the role medical doctors played in the colonial counterinsurgency campaigns in British Kenya (1952-1960) and French Algeria (1954-1962) in the final years of empire. It not only examines how these medical professionals became embroiled in the conflict, but also how they used their knowledge to further the interests of the state. The book makes a substantial and significant contribution to the history of medicine, the history of medical ethics, and the history of colonialism.

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Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo [DRC], Congo, Republic of the, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Guiana, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Hongkong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, China, Macedonia [FYROM], Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Cyprus, Palestine, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Dominican Republic, Myanmar, Monaco

Reviews

Medical involvement in violence, especially torture, seem irreconcilable with our view of doctors as healers, but throughout history there have been instances where this fundamental principle has been neglected or completely ignored. Brutal Treatments offers a detailed comparative assessment of two case studies where doctors became entangled in state-sponsored violence. The Kenya Emergency (1952-1960) and Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962) are recognised as two bloody counterinsurgency campaigns where colonial security forces used torture and other human rights abuses to suppress anticolonial resistance. Although the extent and nature of this violence is well known, less attention has been paid to the role doctors and medicine played in supporting, overseeing, and sometimes leading it. Brutal Treatments shines a light on the shadowy and uncomfortable aspects of the history of medicine. It places medicine and its practitioners within the wider social, economic, and political milieu of the two colonies, revealing them to be deeply embedded social actors who had personal stakes in the colonial situation, the detainment of perceived enemies, and the concealment of abuse. Ultimately, these doctors were willing to lend their expertise to help diagnose the minds of the 'terrorists', to oversee their health while in detention, to monitor them during interrogation, and even to conceal evidence of abuse. Brutal Treatments makes a substantial and significant contribution to the history of medicine, the history of medical ethics, and the history of colonialism, bringing together disciplines that rarely meet. The book will be of interest to scholars and students interested in the history of medicine, colonialism, and ethics, as well as the general reader.

Author Biography

Russell T. Moul is an Honorary Academic at the University of Kent

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Bibliographic Information

  • Publisher Manchester University Press
  • Publication Date May 2025
  • Orginal LanguageEnglish
  • ISBN/Identifier 9781526167514 / 1526167514
  • Publication Country or regionUnited Kingdom
  • FormatPrint PDF
  • Pages304
  • ReadershipGeneral/trade; College/higher education; Professional and scholarly
  • Publish StatusPublished
  • Dimensions216 X 138 mm
  • Biblio NotesDerived from Proprietary 5619
  • SeriesSocial Histories of Medicine
  • Reference Code14999

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