Francisco Javier Martínez and Ozan Ozavci discuss a distinctive form of sanitary internationalism that emerged in Morocco in the late eighteenth century, shaping the intertwined histories of pilgrimage, pandemics, and imperialism.
e-mail: javier_martinez@unizar.es
Javier is Associate Professor at the Universidad de Zaragoza.
While doing his PhD in Barcelona, Javier began with what seemed like a fairly straightforward question: how did public health work in Spanish Morocco in the early twentieth century? But the further he looked, the further back the story seemed to lead. To understand Spain’s role in Morocco, he found himself tracing the history of quarantine, epidemic disease and international intervention in the nineteenth century. That trail eventually brought him to the Sanitary Council of Tangier, an institution founded by Moroccan officials and European powers to counter epidemics and pandemics.
Javier’s findings in the archives were far bigger than he expected. A body of material that goes against the mainstream analytical narratives of imperial hygien. These materials also showed him that the Council became a place where Moroccan rulers and officials sought to defend their own authority and shape reform on their own terms.
Javier and Ozan discuss how he first entered this history and the discoveries that drew him towards Mogador, the Hajj and cholera. What exactly was the Sanitary Council of Tangier, and why did European powers become so involved in Morocco’s health affairs? How did Moroccan rulers respond? And why did Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca become such a source of anxiety for governments worried not only about disease, but also about political unrest and ideas moving across borders? Their conversation also takes us to the tiny island of Mogador, turned into a quarantine station for pilgrims and travellers.
This small island constitutes the core of a much larger story about Spain’s ambitions in Morocco, the politics of controlling movement, and the ways epidemic fear could reshape relations between states comes into view.
Episode 85 – Masters of Mogador
Podcasts 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.