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Medical History

China Gadabouts

New Frontiers of Humanitarian Nursing, 1941–51

by (author) Susan Armstrong-Reid

Publisher
UBC Press
Initial publish date
Dec 2017
Category
History, General, China
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9780774835954
    Publish Date
    Dec 2017
    List Price
    $125.00
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780774835923
    Publish Date
    Dec 2017
    List Price
    $85.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780774835930
    Publish Date
    Jul 2018
    List Price
    $34.95

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Description

The Sino-Japanese War (1937–45) had a devastating impact on China’s civilian population. Braving bandits, disease, and dangerous roads, the China Convoy – a Quaker-sponsored humanitarian unit – delivered medical supplies and provided famine relief in the unoccupied territory of “Free China” and later to both sides in the ensuing civil war. China Gadabouts examines the contested roles played by Western and Chinese nurses in the Convoy’s humanitarian efforts from 1941 to 1951. In so doing, it re-examines the quandaries of Quakers’ purportedly apolitical global engagement that remain salient for contemporary humanitarians. Susan Armstrong-Reid explores how this work gave meaning to the women’s lives and how they attempted to carve out personal and professional space despite a chaotic, unfamiliar, and occasionally hostile environment. China Gadabouts illuminates the ethical dilemmas, professional challenges, and opportunities presented by humanitarian nursing within a Western-based relief organization, while acknowledging its contentious imperial role. In doing so, it spotlights an understudied area of global nursing – its role within INGOs, now more active than ever in global health care.

About the author

Awards

  • Winner, Lavina L. Dock Award, American Association for the History of Nursing

Contributor Notes

Susan Armstrong-Reid is an adjunct professor in the Department of History at the University of Guelph. She is the author of Lyle Creelman: The Frontiers of Global Nursing (2014) and coauthor, with David Murray, of Armies of Peace: Canada and the UNRRA Years (2008). In 2016, she was the recipient of the H-15 Grant from the American Association for the History of Nursing, and in 2012–13 of the Lillian Sholtis Brunner Fellowship from the Barbara Bates Centre for the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Association for the History of Nursing, she also serves on the Leadership Advisory Board at the University of Guelph.

Editorial Reviews

The book contributes in an interesting and valuable way to the history of nursing by women in faith.

Health and History, Vol. 20, No. 2