Stigma and Its Consequences: Syphilis, Prostitution, and Perceptions of Health in Colonial Algeria
This thesis examines the perception of syphilis in Colonial Algeria from a historical perspective. It focuses on the stigma surrounding the disease within the French colonial administration and the ways that stigma impacted the public health infrastructure of the country throughout the colonial era. French officials considered syphilis to be one of the primary health concerns in Algeria. They placed heavy regulations on social groups they believed were at the root of its spread, particularly female Algerian prostitutes. By exploring pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial histories of gender, race, and disease in both Algeria and France, I argue that the targeting of this group was a product of gender and racial biases against Algerian populations and that the public health infrastructure of the country reflected this stigma to a significant degree. I also discuss the potential impact of this infrastructure on perceptions of health among Algerians. This project is based on primary source archival research from les Archives nationales d'outre-mer in France, fiction and nonfiction literature, and secondary source scholarship.
Item Description
Access restricted indefinitely. Please contact wesscholar@wesleyan.edu for more information.