AI Article Synopsis

  • The concept of "postcolonial medicine" exists in former colonizing countries like Britain, prompted by cultural shifts due to postcolonial immigration, especially from South Asia.
  • Research focuses on responses to vitamin D deficiency among Britain's South Asian communities since the 1960s, examining how medical practices have evolved over time.
  • Diet is often used as a way to represent broader cultural identities, including aspects like religion and race, while health issues have been leveraged to push for the assimilation of these communities.

Article Abstract

Do the former colonizing powers, like their former colonies, have "postcolonial medicine," and if so, where does it take place, who practices it, and upon whom? How has British medicine in particular responded to the huge cultural shifts represented by the rise of the New Commonwealth and associated postcolonial immigration? I address these questions through a case study of the medical and political responses to vitamin D deficiency among Britain's South Asian communities since the 1960s. My research suggests that in these contexts, diet frequently became a proxy or shorthand for culture (and religion, and race), while disease justified pressure to assimilate.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2630160PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/bhm.2007.0062DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

"the english
4
english disease"
4
disease" "asian
4
"asian rickets"?
4
rickets"? medical
4
medical responses
4
responses postcolonial
4
postcolonial immigration
4
immigration colonizing
4
colonizing powers
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!