Liberating the people from their loathsome practices: public health and silent racism in post-revolutionary Bolivia
Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos
; 24(4): 1107-1124, out.-dez. 2017.
Article
in English
| HISA - History of Health
| ID: his-39104
Responsible library:
BR1273.1
Localization: BR1273.1
ABSTRACT
After the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario (MNR) took power in the 1952 National Revolution, the party expanded rural public health programs to address what early twentieth-century elites called the Indian problem:
the idea that indigenous culture was an impediment to Bolivias modernization. After 1952, the MNR used public health as a project of cultural assimilation, and state-sponsored health programs sought to culturally whiten the population by transforming personal habits. This essay analyzes the language with which health workers discussed the indigenous population to show that despite the regimes intention to move away from defining the rural population on racial terms, medical and political elites continued to define indigenous customs as an obstacle to progress and a remnant of an antiquated past.(AU)
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Tematic databases
Health context:
Sustainable Health Agenda for the Americas
Health problem:
Goal 3 Human resources for health
Database:
HISA - History of Health
Main subject:
Rural Health
/
50262
/
Indigenous Peoples
Aspects:
Social determinants of health
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Bolivia
Language:
English
Journal:
Hist. ciênc. saúde-Manguinhos
Year:
2017
Document type:
Article