ABOUT BOOK

Healers on the colonial market is one of the few studies on the Dutch East Indies from a postcolonial perspective. It provides an ~enthralling addition to research on both the history of the Dutch ~East Indies and the history of colonial medicine. This book will be ~of interest to historians, historians of science and medicine, and ~anthropologists. ~ ~How successful were the two medical training programmes ~established in Jakarta by the colonial government in 1851? One ~was a medical school for Javanese boys, and the other a school ~for midwives for Javanese girls, and the graduates were supposed ~to replace native healers, the dukun. However, the indigenous ~population was not prepared to use the services of these doctors and ~midwives. Native doctors did in fact prove useful as vaccinators ~and assistant doctors, but the school for midwives was closed in ~1875. Even though there were many horror stories of mistakes made ~during dukun-assisted deliveries, the school was not reopened, and ~instead a handful of girls received practical training from European ~physicians. Under the Ethical Policy there was more attention for ~the welfare of the indigenous population and the need for doctors ~increased. More native boys received medical training and went to ~work as general practitioners. Nevertheless, not everybody accepted ~these native doctors as the colleagues of European physicians. ~ ~Liesbeth Hesselink (1943) received a PhD in the history of medicine ~from the University of Amsterdam in 2009. She has had a career in ~education and in politics. In addition she has published articles on ~prostitution and the medical history of the Dutch East Indies.