Reading Doctors' Writing: Race, politics and power in Indigenous health research 1870–1969

Summary

Reading Doctors’ Writing is a book for every Australian who reads or writes health research about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, it’s not just a story about medical progress. Medical research has been influenced by the politics of colonialism, the nationalist politics associated with Federation, and most importantly, by the politics of race, racism and anti-racism.

This history of Indigenous health research fuels the suspicion felt by Indigenous people today about researchers, and research. Reading Doctors’ Writing invites those involved in Indigenous health research to confront rather than evade the history and politics of their work.

Reviews and endorsements

This book is a welcome addition to the Indigenous health literature, particularly the relationship between health and history...This book, or chapters of it, would add to most reading lists of subjects engaged in Aboriginal health, Australian history, and research ethics and practice across a range of disciplines.

-- Shaun Ewen, VicHealth Koori Health, Research & Community Development Unit, 2006