Landscapes of Disease

by Katerina Gardikas

Overview

Malaria has existed in Greece since prehistoric times. Its prevalence fluctuated depending on climatic, socioeconomic and political changes. The book focuses on the factors that contributed to the spreading of the disease in the years between independent statehood in 1830 and the elimination of malaria in the 1970s. 

By the nineteenth century, Greece was the most malarious country in Europe and the one most heavily infected with its lethal form, falciparum malaria. Owing to pressures on the environment from economic development, agrarian colonization and heightened mobility, the situation became so serious that malaria became a routine part of everyday life for practically all Greek families, further exacerbated by wars. The country’s highly fragmented geography and its variable rainfall distribution created an environment that was ideal for sustaining and spreading of diseases, which, in turn, affected the tolerance of the population to malaria. In their struggle with physical suffering and death, the Greeks developed a culture of avid quinine consumption and were likewise eager to embrace the DDT spraying campaign of the immediate post WW II years, which, overall, had a positive demographic effect.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9786155211980
Publisher:	Central European University Press
Publication date:	02/05/2018
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Katerina Gardikas is associate professor in Modern Greek History. She worked as a researcher at the Centre for Modern Greek Research of the Hellenic National Research Foundation and taught at the Democritus University of Thrace and the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She taught at the University of Athens since 2001.

Table of Contents

List of Tables vi

List of Figures vii

List of Maps vii

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction 1

Chapter I Malaria: An Ancient and Global Disease 15

Chapter II The Fragmented Geography of the Disease 45

Chapter III Malaria in Peace and War 151

Chapter IV Patients, Doctors, and Cures 265

Conclusion 305

Appendices 309

Bibliography 317

Name Index 339

Subject Index 343

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The role of malaria as a widespread disease in modern Greece is a highly intriguing topic both of social history and medical history, given the fact alone that in the interwar period one fifth to one quarter of the world production of quinine was consumed in Greece. The present study is not simply a concise historical description of the role of malaria from the early 19th century until the mid-1870s, when eradication of this disease in Greece was achieved; it also gives insight in the volatility of this parasitic disease due to changing ecological context and various forms of human interference or neglect."—Christian Promitzer

Editorial Reviews

"The multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach adopted by Gardikas’s study is a strength. Expertly bridging the natural and social sciences and operating within a proper historical context, the central question of this study, as stated in the introduction, 'is how malaria interacted with the new social and economic realities that emerged in Greece after independence.' The quality of the microlevel analysis and the sensitivity to the complexity, diversity, and variability of local conditions (climatic, ecological, geographic, and socioeconomic) is one of the most impressive features of this book. Gardikas’s work effectively demonstrates the centrality of malaria in the story of modern Greece and provides further evidence of disease as a central feature of the human experience, both historically and today."—American Historical Review
"Moving away from the usual focus on programmes of draining, repetitive oiling, Paris greening and, later on, DDT-based control, Gardikas's study attempts in a canvas of some 150 years to tell ‘a different story, that of the precarious lives of peasants, townspeople, and soldiers in their daily encounters with their physical environment’. In tune with Italian microhistory, or German Alltaggeschchite, it aims ‘to historicize a shared, banal experience of pain’. Malaria in Modern Greece will remain as a masterpiece on the dynamics of the disease within a century and half, and the cultural adaptations or failures to adapt of a given population to environmental pressures."—Medical History
"This is a groundbreaking piece of research as it attempts to deal with the synchronic and diachronic dimensions of the disease—an enormous task to be undertaken by just one researcher—and its meticulous exploration opens up new avenues for future research."—Social History of Medicine
"The breadth of this book is remarkable, as it effectively combines insights from natural and social science with detailed historical analyses. It presents a complex picture of epidemiological, social, and economic processes that clearly show the nonlinear character of progress against malaria. The high level of geographic detail, while useful for understanding these complexities, can be overwhelming for readers that are not fully acquainted with the country’s geography."—Technology and Culture

"The role of malaria as a widespread disease in modern Greece is a highly intriguing topic both of social history and medical history, given the fact alone that in the interwar period one fifth to one quarter of the world production of quinine was consumed in Greece. The present study is not simply a concise historical description of the role of malaria from the early 19th century until the mid-1870s, when eradication of this disease in Greece was achieved; it also gives insight in the volatility of this parasitic disease due to changing ecological context and various forms of human interference or neglect."—Christian Promitzer

From the Publisher