The Colonial Disease: A Social History of Sleeping Sickness in Northern Zaire, 1900-1940 (Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine) [Hardcover]

Maryinez Lyons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 1992 | Series: Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine

The Belgians commonly referred to their colonisation of the Congo as a 'civilising mission', and many regarded the introduction of western bio-medicine as a central feature of their 'gift' to Africans. By 1930, however, it was clear that some features of their 'civilising mission' were in fact closely connected to the poor health of many of the Congolese. The Europeans had indeed brought scientific enquiry and western bio-medicine; but they had also introduced a harsh, repressive political system which, coupled with a ruthlessly exploitative economic system, led to the introduction of new diseases while already-existing diseases were exacerbated and spread. Tropical, or 'colonial', medicine was a new field at the turn of the century, linked closely both to European expansionism and human trypanosomiasis, or sleeping sickness. In 1901 a devastating epidemic had erupted in Uganda, killing well over 250,000 people.

Editorial Reviews

Review

."..a most interesting and readable account of the social history of a most important disease. Her evidence supports her argument of "medical imperialism"--that medicine was an effective mechanism for the Belgians to impose their authority over subjected peoples." Tanya Weinstein, The International Journal of African Historical Studies

Book Description

The Congolese people termed sleeping sickness the 'colonial disease'. This study examines why Belgian colonisation of the Congo, rather than benefiting the local population, exacerbated many diseases.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 351 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (February 28, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521403502
• ISBN-13: 978-0521403504
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,933,833 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > History > Africa > Republic of the Congo

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Africa's Unique Environmental Problem, January 8, 2004

By 

Chimonsho (Turtle Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Colonial Disease: A Social History of Sleeping Sickness in Northern Zaire, 1900-1940 (Cambridge Studies in the History of Medicine) (Paperback)

The tsetse fly, and the animal and human trypanosomiasis ("nagana") it transmits, is a major, uniquely African problem, causing misery and hindering economic development over huge regions. Lyons's book adds greatly to our understanding of efforts to control the "fly," not least because she very effectively exploits Belgian, British and Sudanese archives. As a full study of policy and practice in the major colony of the Belgian Congo, it also adds an important dimension to the history of African environments, previously dominated by research on British Africa. The main contrast between the two approaches was that Britain sought to control tsetse-friendly areas by modifying the landscape, basically waging war against vegetation, while Belgium sought to minimize infection among human populations through forced resettlement and coercive quarantine measures. This enhanced Africans' resentment and sense of injury under Belgian rule, but both policies barely grasped how colonial-era changes aided the spread of fly belts. "Colonial Disease" is a fine if primarily documentary study, and would probably be better with more access to materials in Congo/Zaire. Though it has some good interview data, its fieldwork component is less strong than J. Giblin, "The Politics of Environmental Control in Northeastern Tanzania," and the forbidding classic by J. Ford, "The Role of the Trypanosomiases in African Ecology." F. Lambrecht, "In the Shade of an Acacia Tree" is a Belgian-American's vivid memoir of 1950s glossinology, or tsetse science.