Contagious Divides
eBook - ePub

Contagious Divides

Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s Chinatown

  1. 398 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Contagious Divides

Epidemics and Race in San Francisco’s Chinatown

About this book

Contagious Divides charts the dynamic transformation of representations of Chinese immigrants from medical menace in the nineteenth century to model citizen in the mid-twentieth century. Examining the cultural politics of public health and Chinese immigration in San Francisco, this book looks at the history of racial formation in the U.S. by focusing on the development of public health bureaucracies.

Nayan Shah notes how the production of Chinese difference and white, heterosexual norms in public health policy affected social lives, politics, and cultural expression. Public health authorities depicted Chinese immigrants as filthy and diseased, as the carriers of such incurable afflictions as smallpox, syphilis, and bubonic plague. This resulted in the vociferous enforcement of sanitary regulations on the Chinese community. But the authorities did more than demon-ize the Chinese; they also marshaled civic resources that promoted sewer construction, vaccination programs, and public health management.

Shah shows how Chinese Americans responded to health regulations and allegations with persuasive political speeches, lawsuits, boycotts, violent protests, and poems. Chinese American activists drew upon public health strategies in their advocacy for health services and public housing. Adroitly employing discourses of race and health, these activists argued that Chinese Americans were worthy and deserving of sharing in the resources of American society.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Contagious Divides by Nayan Shah in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Medicine & Health Policy. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Title
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. List of Illustrations
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction: Public Health, Race, and Citizenship
  8. 1.   Public Health and the Mapping of Chinatown
  9. 2.   Regulating Bodies and Space
  10. 3.   Perversity, Contamination, and the Dangers of Queer Domesticity
  11. 4.   White Women, Hygiene, and the Struggle for Respectable Domesticity
  12. 5.   Plague and Managing the Commercial City
  13. 6.   White Labor and the American Standard of Living
  14. 7.   Making Medical Borders at Angel Island
  15. 8.   Healthy Spaces, Healthy Conduct
  16. 9.   Reforming Chinatown
  17. Conclusion: Norms as a Way of Life
  18. Notes
  19. Bibliography
  20. Index