Disease, empire and modernity in the Caribbean: Tuberculosis in Cuba, 1899-1909
Item
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Title
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Disease, empire and modernity in the Caribbean: Tuberculosis in Cuba, 1899-1909
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:d097eee2b845:11843
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identifier
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12488
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Creator
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Gutierrez, John A.,
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Contributor
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Laird W. Bergad
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Date
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2013
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Latin American history | Public health | Cuba | Social Reform | Tuberculosis | United States
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Abstract
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This dissertation focuses on the anti-tuberculosis movement in Cuba between 1899 and 1909 and the ways in which the struggle against this deadly disease highlighted complex issues of sovereignty, modernity and public health on the island. Among infectious diseases, tuberculosis was the leading cause of death in Cuba during these years and it affected every sector of Cuban society without regard to race, gender or national origin. The disease was found all over the island from the urban slums of Havana and Santiago de Cuba to the tobacco factories of Pinar del Rio. Debates about its treatment were common in Cuban and U.S. medical circles and, in fits and starts there were attempts to control its spread throughout the island, most especially, in Havana.;Yet, despite the impact that tuberculosis had on Cuban society, there have been few efforts to analyze the ways in which Cuban and U.S. authorities on the island contended with the disease during the first decade of the twentieth century. This dissertation addresses this void in the literature by placing tuberculosis within three broad contexts: the history of U.S.-Cuban relations, the history of public health in Latin America, and the history of tuberculosis control movements in the Americas. In particular, the dissertation examines the ways in which tuberculosis served as a site of collaboration and contestation between U.S. and Cuban government and public health officials, the reasons why the anti-tuberculosis movement was overshadowed by efforts to control the spread of yellow fever and an examination of the Cuban organizations created to combat the disease. Additionally, this dissertation examines how the battle against tuberculosis became an important part of Cuban attempts to present their young nation as a modern and progressive republic.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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History
