Prerequisites to a Civilized Life: The American Colonial Public Health System in the Philippines, 1901 to 1927.

Abstract

As a rationale of the American civilizing mission to prepare Filipinos for independence, public health became the arena in which Filipino progress was gauged. This study examines the American colonial public health system in the Philippines from 1901 to 1927. The study focuses on sanitation, health, hygiene, medical and scientific institutions, and health and medical professions as technical workings of the American colonial state to prepare Filipinos for independence. Positioned within the larger political concern of Philippine independence, this study is also being enfolded in the bigger theme of the United States Empire, race, colonial medicine, and public health in the context of the global phenomenon of imperialism in the late nineteenth century. As these fields come together, the study aims to participate in the development of a new cultural-political history of Southeast Asia in general and American colonialism in particular, in the 20th century.