The Shock of the Old
From The Mason Historiographiki
Warwick Anderson. Colonial Pathologies: American Tropical Medicine, Race, and Hygiene in the Philippines. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. 2006. Pp. ix, 355. Cloth $84.95, paper $23.95.
Summary
Chapters: "Significance"; "Time"; "Production"; "Maintenance"; "Nations"; "War"; "Killing"; "Invention".
Edgerton surveys twentieth century technology in the context of a trans-national "use-centered" (or "use-based") history. He positions this approach as a means of refuting the "assumption that national innovation determines national success." [p. xiv] A use-centered approach places the emphasis of significance not on the traditional narratives of "innovation-centric" development that often focuses exclusively on the "rich world," but on the acceptance of the technology so that "what does not change" is realized as much as any celebrated technological transformation and that the rich world cultural bias is minimized.
