New Histories of Public Health and Social Policy in Latin America

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This panel brings together recent research projects on the history of public health and social policies in Latin America from the early up to the second half of the 20th Century, a period in which such policies stood at the heart of a number of transformative moments in the region. The papers in the panel cover different countries during key junctures, including post-revolutionary Mexico and Cuba, turn-of-the-century Uruguay, and Puerto Rico under United States colonialism. Together, the papers seek to answer questions such as: What was the role of public health projects in the Latin American state and nation formation? How did public health and social policy shape the configuration of citizenship in different Latin American countries and Puerto Rico? And what role did it play in broader processes of inclusion and exclusion across the region? The papers in this panel address these questions by examining the histories of key institutions developed through the 20th century, as well as the varied range of actors involved, including hygienists, welfare reformists, public health experts, doctors, advocacy groups, and recipients of social welfare benefits.

Sub Track

• History and Historiography

Session Organizers

• Sara D Hidalgo, Columbia University

• Teresa Huhle, Universität Bremen

Chair

• Jonathan D Ablard, Ithaca College

Discussant

• Delia González de Reufels, Universität Bremen

Individual Presentations

• The Transnational Formation of a Healthy Nation: Travelling Reformers in the "República Batllista" (1903-1933) - Teresa Huhle, Universität Bremen

• Colonial Social Security: Puerto Rico and U.S. Social Welfare Policy in the 20th Century - Emma B Amador, University of Connecticut

• Welfare Reform and Social Security in Post-Revolutionary Century Mexico, 1943-1970 - Sara D Hidalgo, Columbia University

• “The client appears very affected, as his family depends on him”: The Consequences of Resolution No. 42 in Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba, 1965 - William T Kelly, Rutgers University