Health and Medicine during and after the Pacific War: Pacific Islanders, Institutions, Infrastructure, Ingenuities

Abstract

This special issue takes a critical look at the history of health and medicine in the Pacific Islands by focusing on medical infrastructure and the professionalisation of Pasifika people during and after the Pacific War. This issue brings together historical and anthropological literatures on health, medicine, and infrastructure and the authors employ methods from both disciplines, combining archival sources from state, mission, and medical institutions with oral histories and participant observation. As histories of a present where the discipline of critical global health emphasises the experiences of people who are implicated in as ‘targets’ in global health projects and technologies, these articles present Pacific centred historical consciousness in relation to health and medicine in the context of social change and upheaval. They are histories that seek to centre Pacific Islanders' experiences with respect to health and medical institutions.