The launch event followed by a two-day conference of the Project on “Health is Politics” of the NEH-Cullen Chain in History & Medicine, will be held on April 18th to 20th, 2024 at the Hilton, University of Houston.

About the Project

The Project on Health is Politics seeks to trace the history of political activism that has shaped community healthcare globally. It also initiates discussions on how the future of global and community healthcare depends on political activism and thereby refers to several such political roles that is defining healthcare in the contemporary period.

The Project is directed by Dr. Pratik Chakrabarti (NEH-Cullen Chair in History and Medicine) with the support of researchers, community health activists and medical professionals.

Health is Politics is at its early stage with few researchers, and the program intends to have several graduate students in the next few years along with postdocs. Dr. M. Kamatchi started research for the program last year and is conducting research among the Dalit midwives in southern India who are serving the key aspects of community healthcare in India. The project seeks further to link these with the historical trajectories of similar activism.

Major activity of the Project involved conducting its first workshop collaborating with community health activists, social scientists and medical professionals at the Institut Français de Pondichéry (IFP), India on July 31, 2023