Description

This talk will explore the intersection of two of important phenomena in the postwar world: the emergence of the United Nations system and the disintegration of European empires in Africa. Using colonial and international health interventions in French Sub-Saharan Africa as a lens, this talk considers two interconnected questions: first, what were the implications of decolonization for the relationship between European empires and the broader international system? And second, how did the end of empire and the expanding reach of international organizations in the postwar period shape the more intimate domains of family health and social development in Africa? It will consider the ways that broader international political trends of anti-colonialism and decolonization profoundly shaped the landscape of postwar health cooperation in French Africa, limiting the possibilities for truly global action while also encouraging French colonial doctors to seek out new forms of scientific and technical cooperation with neighboring African empires.