CfP: Policing and Public Health 1800-2000
The significance of law enforcement for public health has recently been spotlit by the policing of Covid-19 lockdowns, and the impact of police violence on minoritised populations. Public health and policing have been entwined since the early 1800s, evolving together as characteristics of the modern nation state. Sex work and sexual health, environmental harms and nuisances, unsafe workplaces, substance misuse, mental health crises, interpersonal violence, road collisions, and unintended injuries have long interested public health experts and been central to policing. Moreover, police personnel are themselves at risk of occupational harms, presenting a particular public health challenge.
With sparse exceptions, histories of modern policing and public health rarely meet. This one-day workshop will bring together researchers from both fields, situating the police officer as a key figure in histories of public health and medicine, and public health as integral to the evolution of policing.
We are seeking proposals for ten-minute lightning talks exploring connections between police and public health anywhere in the world, including, but not restricted to: Imperial policing and localised responses | Policing pandemics and quarantines | Forensics, victim support, and incident management | First responders to injuries, accidents, disasters and weather incidents | Nuisance, noise, smell, and environmental health | Policing genitals from sex workers to the 2025 UK Supreme Court ruling | Police occupational health | Police / public health conceptions of violence, crime, addiction| Policing as harmful to public health.
The workshop will take place in London, without any registration fees, and funding will be available for travel expenses for those without access to other resources. There will also be scope to join online for participants who are unable to attend in person. We encourage abstracts from historians at any career stage, based in universities, museums and heritage, archives, and beyond.
Please send an abstract of 150 words, along with your name and indication of affiliation/ independent researcher to Janet Weston and Rebeca Wynter by July 4th 2025