Religion in Global Health and Development : The Case of Twentieth-Century Ghana

Examining the role of religious actors in health and development to highlight their overlooked contributions to health services in developing countries. In __Religion in Global Health and Development__ Benjamin Walker shows how the religious features of colonial state architecture were still operating by the twenty-first century. Uncovering where religion and global health have connected across the twentieth century and focusing on Ghana provides an opportunity to challenge narrow approaches. Religion in Global Health and Development 1 Cover Page 1 Half Title Page 2 Title Page 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Figures and Tables 8 Abbreviations 12 Preface 14 Acknowledgments 18 Introduction 24 MAKING DEVELOPMENT: EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY GOLD COAST 35 Chapter 1: The Colonial Foundations of Global Health: Britain, Gold Coast, and Ghana, 1919–61 50 MEDICAL MISSIONARIES AND THE EXPANSION OF THE COLONIAL STATE 51 THE POSTWAR VOLUNTARY SECTOR 60 THE BOUNDARIES AND BENEFICIARIES OF THE VOLUNTARY SECTOR: MEDICAL MISSIONS AT KWAHU AND SANDEMA 75 CONCLUSION 95 Chapter 2: Religion and Africanising Health: Ghana, 1957–68 97 THE AFRICANISATION OF MEDICAL MISSION IN DECOLONISING GHANA 99 CHRISTIANITY, MISSION, AND KWAME NKRUMAH 109 MEDICAL MISSION AND EARLY POSTCOLONIAL GHANAIAN HIGH POLITICS 116 CONCLUSION 128 Chapter 3: Reframing Postcolonial International Health: Ghana, the Netherlands, and West Germany, 1957–90 130 FASTENAKTION AND EUROPEAN POSTWAR RENEWAL: WEST GERMAN AND DUTCH MEDICAL MISSION IN GHANA 132 MISEREOR AND GHANAIAN DEVELOPMENT: EXPERIENCES, IDENTITIES, AND NEGOTIATIONS IN MISSION 145 GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT NETWORKS AND THE DUTCH FOCUS ON GHANA 160 CONCLUSION 165 Chapter 4: International Health Campaigns and Christian Mission: Ghana, Europe, and North America, 1950–94 167 ‘A GHANAIAN ABRAHAM LINCOLN’: SMALLPOX, MEASLES, AND THE MEDICAL SCHOOL 169 RELIGIOUS NETWORKS DISTRIBUTING AID: 1960–83 193 CONCLUSION 204 Chapter 5: Primary Health Care, Global Health, and Medical Mission: Ghana, the who, and the World Council of Churches, 1960–2000 207 RESILIENT MISSION: MAKING HEALTH AMIDST SCARCITY AND COLLAPSE 209 MISSION MAKING GLOBAL HEALTH: CHRISTIAN MEDICAL COMMISION AND PRIMARY HEALTH CARE 217 CATHOLIC MISSIONS STARTING AND SUSTAINING PRIMARY HEALTH CARE IN GHANA 225 CONCLUSION 237 Conclusion: Religion, the Ghanaian State, and the Future of Global Health 240 APPENDIX: Catholic Health Services in Ghana, January–April 1982 248 Notes 256 Index 330 "The COVID-19 pandemic has made evident that the field of global health--its practices, norms, and failures--has the power to shape the lives of billions. Global health perspectives on the role of religion, however, are strikingly limited. Uncovering the points where religion and global health have connected across the twentieth century, focusing on Ghana, provides an opportunity to challenge narrow approaches. In Religion in Global Health and Development Benjamin Walker shows how the religious features of colonial state architecture were still operating by the turn of the twenty-first century. Walker surveys the establishment of colonial development projects in the twentieth century, with a focus on the period between 1940 and 1990. Crossing the colonial-postcolonial divide, analyzing local contexts in conjunction with the many layers of international organizations, and identifying surprisingly neglected streams of personnel and funding (particularly from Dutch and West German Catholics), this in-depth history offers new ways of conceptualizing global health. Patchworks of international humanitarian intervention, fragmented government services, local communities, and the actions of many foreign powers combined to create health services and the state in Ghana. Religion in Global Health and Development shows that religion and religious actors were critical to this process--socially, culturally, and politically. "-- Provided by publisher The COVID-19 pandemic has made evident that the field of global health – its practices, norms, and failures – has the power to shape the lives of billions. Global health perspectives on the role of religion, however, are strikingly limited. Uncovering the points where religion and global health have connected across the twentieth century, focusing on Ghana, provides an opportunity to challenge narrow approaches. In Religion in Global Health and Development Benjamin Walker shows that the religious features of colonial state architecture were still operating by the turn of the twenty-first century. Walker surveys the establishment of colonial development projects in the twentieth century, with a focus on the period between 1940 and 1990. Crossing the colonial-postcolonial divide, analyzing local contexts in conjunction with the many layers of international organizations, and identifying surprisingly neglected streams of personnel and funding (particularly from Dutch and West German Catholics), this in-depth history offers new ways of conceptualizing global health. Patchworks of international humanitarian intervention, fragmented government services, local communities, and the actions of many foreign powers combined to create health services and the state in Ghana. Religion in Global Health and Development shows that religion and religious actors were critical to this process – socially, culturally, and politically.