#birkbeckvoices

As part of a workshop hosted by the Reluctant Internationalists research group on Writing ‘Outsiders’ into the History of International Public Health, Susan Gross Solomon (Toronto), Johanna Conterio (Birkbeck) and Sarah Marks (Birkbeck) examined public health in Soviet Russia during the inter-war years. The panel, chaired by Ana Antic (Exeter), fostered discussion on the extent of the performative aspect of ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ as labels in relation to international gatherings and congresses, as well as to what extent the Soviets can be classified as having truly been ‘outsiders’ during this period. The workshop examined what impact factoring in “outsiders” would make to the way historians write the history of international public health. In addition, the workshop sought to ask what close study of “outsiders” and the processes of marginalisation can tell us about the international system of public health – its rules (written and unwritten), its reach, and its commitment to inclusiveness? For more info