Abstract
In Guatemala and Ecuador—two nations with large Indigenous populations—public health professionals and government officials attributed high incidences of infectious disease among indígenas (Indigenous people) to culture and customs rather than to structural determinants of abject poverty. Race played as much of a role as medical science in shaping how public health officials approached infectious-contagious diseases and the indígenas who contracted them in the first half of the twentieth century. To disparage indígenas and undermine their claims to citizenship, Guatemalan and Ecuadorian public health officials deployed cultural essentialism and hygienic determinism, by which I mean efforts to portray marginalized populations, particularly their practices and habits, as sources and propagators of diseases that compromise public health and ravage those same marginalizedpopulations.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: EIAL - Estudios Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Caribe
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
