The Great Influenza

This chapter asks comparative questions: did other countries experience the same outpouring of volunteerism as the US in the Great Influenza? Did women man the front lines of charity and self-sacrifice? It begins with the Deep South, which diverged from the national picture in the US. Here, men and their clubs, not women, played the dominant role, especially in New Orleans—the pattern set by a half-century of yellow fever resistance. The chapter moves on to Italy where there was some evidence of denial, though no blame or social violence. In contrast to the US, no outpouring of volunteerism emerged; rather, governments and the military intervened. France, Switzerland, and the British Isles likewise show no social violence or blaming, and no outpouring of volunteerism, especially among women. However, volunteerism was stronger in Ireland and Switzerland. Reliance on military intervention in civilian health care is the key to explaining these differences.

Blame · Criminology · Denial · Front (military) · Geography · Political economy · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Sacrifice · Sociology · Gender Studies · Global Security and Public Health · History · Psychology · Social Psychology