Colonial Life of Pharmaceuticals

"Situated at the crossroads between the history of colonialism, of modern Southeast Asia and of medical pluralism, this book traces the "life of pharmaceuticals" in Vietnam under French rule. By focusing on the circulation and consumption of colonial medicines from the last third of the nineteenth century to the eve of World War II, it addresses neglected, and sometimes surprising, facets of the medicalization of Vietnamese society. By colonial medicines, I mean not only medicines introduced and distributed by the colonizers, but also, importantly, medicines that were generated within and (re)defined by the process, and experience, of colonization. This book covers a period during which pharmaceuticals as we now know them were being defined, when their characteristics became stabilized and their modalities of distribution were tightened"--Provided by publisher.