Cleansing the world of the germ of laziness

Hygiene, sanitation, and the Javanese population in Suriname

Bibliographic Data

ID3100192
AuthorsRosemarijn Hoefte (0000-0003-4103-8577, Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume21
Issue4
Pages1437-1455
Publication date2014-05-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistória Ciências Saúde-Manguinhos (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0104-5970 • E-ISSN: 1678-4758
PublisherFapUNIFESP (SciELO) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1590/s0104-59702014005000012
PMID25606734
OpenAlexW2029117373
SCIELO_PIDS0104-59702014000401437
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited15

In 1915 the Rockefeller Foundation took its hookworm eradication campaign to Suriname, but was soon disappointed because of opposition from its main target group: the Javanese. Moreover, authorities and planters objected to the construction of latrines because of the costs and their belief that the Javanese were "unhygienic". In describing the labor migration from Java to Suriname, I show that this "lack of hygiene" was closely related to the system's organization. I argue that uncleanliness was the consequence of harmful socio-economic and ecological conditions. Secondly I suggest that even though the Foundation did not manage to cleanse Suriname of hookworm, its educational efforts, its emphasis on prevention, and its training of local health workers probably had more impact than Rockefeller officials thought

Environmental health · Geography · Germ theory of disease · Hygiene · Laziness · Population · Sanitation · Traditional medicine · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Medicine

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