UCSF

This dissertation focuses on how health knowledges are produced and travel through an analysis of the translation and adaptation of Where There Is No Doctor, one of the most widely used health manuals in the world. First published in the 1970s, it spread around the globe with health social movements, and has been translated into over 80 languages. Using qualitative methods and grounded theory analysis, this research explores translations and adaptations in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and English for use in India. The analysis sits at the intersection of sociology of health and illness, critical global health, and postcolonial science and technology studies. I make three key arguments: (1) the book serves both an instrumental role as a tool for people training community health workers, and a symbolic, political role, for health professionals focused on advocacy; (2) the book’s invitation to adapt content and illustrations to meet local needs, and to integrate lay and expert knowledges across a variety of medical systems, allows it to travel as a successfully global object; and (3) health knowledges produced in these editions are fundamentally new knowledges.