Fitting for Health: the Economy of Medical Technology in Europe and its Colonies, 1600-1850
Dear colleagues,
please find below a call for papers for a conference to be held in Paris in
early September 2010, in which I hope to gather historians of medicine and
technology.
Do not hesitate to forward the following link to anybody you think would be
interested:
http://calenda.revues.org/nouvelle14995.html
With kindest regards,
Christelle Rabier
*Fitting for Health: the Economy of Medical Technology in Europe and its
Colonies, 1600-1850*
*Équiper la santé: l'économie de l'instrumentation médicale en Europe et
dans ses colonies, 1600-1850*
*Paris, 2-3 September 2010**.*
*Call for papers*
Is the history of medicine "that of its instruments?" (Henri Sigerist). In
spite of the importance of material tools for diagnosis and therapeutic
practices since Antiquity, we have insufficient knowledge of medical
equipment, its uses or production. Yet, recent studies have emphasized the
importance of the forceps in the successful management of difficult births,
the role of ceramic in the storage and commercial display of drugs in early
modern Europe, the development of toyware and that of metallic trusses sent
to the colonies, or the visual technologies that linked corpses, printed
images, wax artefacts and instruments for diagnosis, to give a few examples.
The conference aims to present highly innovative interdisciplinary research
on the material culture and practices of medicine, at the crossroads of
medical history, the history of technology and economic history. Considering
Europe and its colonies between 1600 - the beginning of herniary surgery in
France - and 1850 - the launching of world fairs - the conference will
address two major issues:
1. The medical "life of things"
What was considered instrumental to medicine? Patients and practitioners
have used a wide variety of tools - trusses, plasters, forceps, cutting
knives, herniary bandaging, electrical devices, baths, orthopaedic machines,
models, tools for diagnosis, up to plants transformed into medical
commodities or "medicines". Some were similar to devices that are still in
use today; others have fallen into oblivion, thus challenging medical
museums' curators who wish to present them before the public. What were the
technologies of the early modern patient and practitioner - surgeons,
midwives, barbers, nurses, etc.? To what extent did the early modern medical
equipment contribute to the management of health, by patients and/or
practitioners and to the redefining of medical knowledge and know-how? What
type of medical trades did they help to set up or to challenge? How did
tools and commodities help redefining medical work? How did they get into
use, and how did they circulate among the medical community?
2. Medical technologies, industry and commerce.
How were the products conceived and marketed? How was the production of
medical instrumentation organized? To what extent had the trade recourse to
patenting, the expert evaluation of academies, such as the Académie royale
de chirurgie? Which industrial trades and production sectors did it bring
together? How was it funded? Did medical instruments' makers exploit new
channels for the retailing of their instruments - such as nineteenth-century
French industrial fairs - or use old ones? What were the routes of medical
instruments to individual practitioners, public charities, national armies
or to the colonies?
The conference will bring together scholars working on different places and
periods with the view to contribute to a European history of medical
instruments and medicine in its global context.
Scholars are invited to send a abstract - in English or French - stating the
subject of their presentation, their sources and methodologies, before
November 30th, 2010. They will state their contact details.
*Organization* :
*Contact* :
Institut d'histoire moderne et contemporaine
Christelle Rabier
École normale supérieure
+33.1.48.59.47.19
45, rue d'Ulm
christelle.rabier@gmail.com
F-75005 Paris
--
Christelle Rabier
Institut d'histoire moderne et contemporaine
Ecole normale supérieure
45, rue d'Ulm
75005 Paris
--------
répondeur : 01 48 59 47 19
please find below a call for papers for a conference to be held in Paris in
early September 2010, in which I hope to gather historians of medicine and
technology.
Do not hesitate to forward the following link to anybody you think would be
interested:
http://calenda.revues.org/nouvelle14995.html
With kindest regards,
Christelle Rabier
*Fitting for Health: the Economy of Medical Technology in Europe and its
Colonies, 1600-1850*
*Équiper la santé: l'économie de l'instrumentation médicale en Europe et
dans ses colonies, 1600-1850*
*Paris, 2-3 September 2010**.*
*Call for papers*
Is the history of medicine "that of its instruments?" (Henri Sigerist). In
spite of the importance of material tools for diagnosis and therapeutic
practices since Antiquity, we have insufficient knowledge of medical
equipment, its uses or production. Yet, recent studies have emphasized the
importance of the forceps in the successful management of difficult births,
the role of ceramic in the storage and commercial display of drugs in early
modern Europe, the development of toyware and that of metallic trusses sent
to the colonies, or the visual technologies that linked corpses, printed
images, wax artefacts and instruments for diagnosis, to give a few examples.
The conference aims to present highly innovative interdisciplinary research
on the material culture and practices of medicine, at the crossroads of
medical history, the history of technology and economic history. Considering
Europe and its colonies between 1600 - the beginning of herniary surgery in
France - and 1850 - the launching of world fairs - the conference will
address two major issues:
1. The medical "life of things"
What was considered instrumental to medicine? Patients and practitioners
have used a wide variety of tools - trusses, plasters, forceps, cutting
knives, herniary bandaging, electrical devices, baths, orthopaedic machines,
models, tools for diagnosis, up to plants transformed into medical
commodities or "medicines". Some were similar to devices that are still in
use today; others have fallen into oblivion, thus challenging medical
museums' curators who wish to present them before the public. What were the
technologies of the early modern patient and practitioner - surgeons,
midwives, barbers, nurses, etc.? To what extent did the early modern medical
equipment contribute to the management of health, by patients and/or
practitioners and to the redefining of medical knowledge and know-how? What
type of medical trades did they help to set up or to challenge? How did
tools and commodities help redefining medical work? How did they get into
use, and how did they circulate among the medical community?
2. Medical technologies, industry and commerce.
How were the products conceived and marketed? How was the production of
medical instrumentation organized? To what extent had the trade recourse to
patenting, the expert evaluation of academies, such as the Académie royale
de chirurgie? Which industrial trades and production sectors did it bring
together? How was it funded? Did medical instruments' makers exploit new
channels for the retailing of their instruments - such as nineteenth-century
French industrial fairs - or use old ones? What were the routes of medical
instruments to individual practitioners, public charities, national armies
or to the colonies?
The conference will bring together scholars working on different places and
periods with the view to contribute to a European history of medical
instruments and medicine in its global context.
Scholars are invited to send a abstract - in English or French - stating the
subject of their presentation, their sources and methodologies, before
November 30th, 2010. They will state their contact details.
*Organization* :
*Contact* :
Institut d'histoire moderne et contemporaine
Christelle Rabier
École normale supérieure
+33.1.48.59.47.19
45, rue d'Ulm
christelle.rabier@gmail.com
F-75005 Paris
--
Christelle Rabier
Institut d'histoire moderne et contemporaine
Ecole normale supérieure
45, rue d'Ulm
75005 Paris
--------
répondeur : 01 48 59 47 19