Martina Biondi reports from “Health in the Maghreb: Colonial Biopolitics, Postcolonial Challenges, and International Healthcare (1830–1980),” an international workshop held at the University of Maryland.
Martina is postdoctoral researcher at Ca’ Foscari University and the University of Maryland.
In recent years, the history of medicine and health has attracted growing scholarly attention, particularly in light of its social and political implications. The Covid-19 pandemic further reinforced interest in the ways (post)colonial medicine and healthcare cooperation contributed to historical change. Today, several ongoing research projects are rethinking the history of global health by moving beyond narratives centered solely on the “great powers” and instead highlighting the role of international organizations, national communities, and local actors.
Within this broader context, my Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Postdoctoral Fellowship project, HICAMA – History of Care in the Maghreb: Infectious Diseases, Healthcare Infrastructures and International Aid (1956–1999), examines the history of public health in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia after independence. The project focuses on the struggle against infectious diseases such as malaria, trachoma, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS, exploring how immunizations efforts became closely connected to postcolonial nation-building, international relations, and local forms of engagement. By placing healthcare at the center of the analysis, HICAMA aims to reconsider the Maghreb’s postcolonial history through the lens of healthcare development, sanitary internationalism, and local provision of care.
These issues inspired the international workshop History of Health in the Maghreb: Colonial Biopolitics, Postcolonial Challenges, and International Healthcare (1830–1980), held on May 4–5, 2026, at the Department of History of the University of Maryland. Co-organized with Peter Wien, Professor of History of the Modern Middle East at the University of Maryland, the workshop brought together established scholars and early-career researchers from Europe, North America, and the Middle East working on the history of health, medicine, and humanitarianism.
The workshop explored the development of healthcare systems in the Maghreb from the colonial era to the postcolonial period, encouraging dialogue between scholars working on different historical phases. Discussions highlighted both continuities and transformations in public health policies, anti-epidemic campaigns, and medical infrastructures across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Presentations also examined how healthcare policies were deeply intertwined with systems of political control and social inequality. Particular attention was devoted to two interconnected themes that are central to current historiography: infectious diseases and reproductive health.
Clifford Rosenberg discussed the spread of tuberculosis in colonial Algiers and showed how French authorities closely monitored disease while providing no care to local populations, revealing the racialized nature of colonial medicine. Hannah-Louise Clark further explored the coercive dimensions of French sanitary policies on colonized communities in Algeria, demonstrating how epidemic control prioritized economic interests and veterinary concerns at the expense of the rural Muslim population. Julia Schulte-Werning analyzed religious and transnational networks involved in anti-tuberculosis efforts in Morocco, paying particular attention to Jewish humanitarian activities, in particular the establishment of sanatoria.
As noted above, gender and reproductive health also emerged as central themes. Ellen Amster focused on the social dimensions of care and medical professionalization in Morocco. She examined the role of nurses and midwives, highlighting tensions between international maternal health and traditional medical knowledge. Jennifer Johnson paid attention to family planning policies in post-independence Algeria and showed how reproductive healthcare became linked to modernization projects, demographic debates, and international funding strategies during the 1960s and 1970s.
The workshop also expanded beyond the Maghreb to include broader Middle Eastern insights, thanks to the enriching presence of Soha Bayoumi, Anny Gaul, Rachel Nicole Schine, Peter Wien, Ahmet Karamustafa, and Liat Kozma. In particular, the keynote lecture by Liat Kozma offered poignant and profound reflections on the history of medicine and humanitarianism in Palestine, from missionary medicine in the Ottoman period to contemporary humanitarian crises in Gaza. Her account emphasized the long-term relationship between healthcare crises, war, and medical practice, drawing on physicians’ contemporary testimonies.
Discussions addressed the difficulties of working with postcolonial archives, the importance of recovering the voices and experiences of patients and providers, and the need to integrate political, social, and cultural approaches to healthcare history.
The concluding roundtable, led by Soha Bayoumi, encouraged participants to reflect collectively on the challenges of researching the history of health and medicine across the Mediterranean. Discussions addressed the difficulties of working with postcolonial archives, the importance of recovering the voices and experiences of patients and providers, and the need to integrate political, social, and cultural approaches to healthcare history. Participants also reflected on the relationship between medicine and religion, on traditional healing practices, and on the significance of public history initiatives capable of making the history of healthcare accessible beyond academia.
Overall, the workshop demonstrated the vitality and diversity of current scholarship on the history of health in the Maghreb and the broader Middle East. By bringing together different disciplinary perspectives and generations of scholars, the event encouraged future research on the history of healthcare across the region. Finally, there was time for some lighter and convivial moments, including a warm nod to Testudo, the University of Maryland’s much-loved mascot.
Blogposts are published by TLP for the purpose of encouraging informed debate on the legacies of the events surrounding the Lausanne Conference. The views expressed by participants do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of TLP, its partners, convenors or members.