medicine

Since the 1980s, patient accompaniment has been considered a form of care in its own right. Yet, the “ethic of care,” now a key notion in philosophy, is also part of the solidarity pact that governs the welfare state in France.

French sociologist Alexandre Mathieu-Fritz analyzes the rise of telemedicine, which was brought to the fore by the pandemic. He examines changes in the practices of healthcare professionals, the doctor-patient bond, and delegation between professions.

Drawing on treatises by naturalists and doctors, as well as reports from colonial missions, historian Delphine Peiretti-Courtis examines how racialized bodies were belittled and dehumanized by medical professionals in the French Empire from the 19^th century onwards.

In the 20^th century, being labelled as “schizophrenic” was tantamount to a life sentence. A study based on patient records shows that schizophrenics suffered not only from their illness but also from ideological prejudice and the classificatory obsession of their time.

The flourishing history of the relationship between race and health has recently turned to the origins of medicine in the United States and the decisive role played by enslaved Africans, both dead and alive. A history of duress, from which their voices nevertheless emerge.

Can one write a history of colonization through plants? This is the challenge taken up by Samir Boumediene in a book devoted to the modern-age production of botanical knowledge on both sides of the Atlantic.

Through its examination of the history of the vibrator and of techniques of female masturbation, Rachel Maines’ text depicts the contentious nature of the female orgasm as it appears in expert discourse, as well as in commercial practice. She thus unmasks an androcentric concept of sexuality, of which the vibrator is an essential component, and she renounces what she refers to as the mystery of penetration.

How did physician-chemists go about putting public hygiene on the agenda during the nineteenth century? Constructing a panorama of their ambitions and projects, Gérard Jorland gives us a sweeping summa that favours the grand narrative at the expense of explaining social complexity.

The failure of the vaccination campaign against the H1N1 virus has sometimes been blamed on the ‘wild rumours’ circulating on the Internet. According to Jean-Baptiste Fressoz, this interpretation misses the point. He offers a stimulating historical parallel between the inoculation against smallpox in the 18^th century and the H1N1 outbreak of 2009. His analysis highlights the limitations of risk as a method of persuasion and body management.