Controlling contagion : epidemics and institutions from the Black Death to Covid / Sheilagh Ogilvie.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ogilvie, Sheilagh.

Series:

Princeton economic history of the Western world.

The Princeton Economic History of the Western World

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medicine--History.

Medicine.

Epidemics--History.

Epidemics.

history of medicine.

History of Medicine.

Sociological Factors.

Social Structure.

Communicable Disease Control--history.

Epidemics--history.

Medical Subjects:

History of Medicine.

Sociological Factors.

Social Structure.

Communicable Disease Control--history.

Epidemics--history.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (530 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"From the Black Death to Covid, infectious diseases have killed far more people than hunger or violence, and they still cause 40 per cent of deaths in developing countries today. Epidemic disease is one of our best laboratories for exploring how societies deal with negative externalities-a cost not paid wholly by oneself, but instead discharged partly onto other people. Once an epidemic is raging, it raises three challenges for society which this book seeks to address. First, what institutions help care for the victims? Second, what institutions help societies recover from the huge economic devastation caused by mass disease, disability, and death? And finally, how are institutions themselves affected by epidemics? Analysing eight centuries of historical epidemics in Europe, the Middle East, China, India, Africa, and the Americas, economic historian Sheilagh Ogilvie investigates how six key social institutions (the market, the state, the community, religion, the guild, and the family) have shaped how people have dealt with the costs of contagion. She demonstrates that fighting epidemics requires resources, coercion, monitoring, exhortation, expertise, and nurturing. Each institution is good at mobilising some of these, but no institution is good at all. A social framework in which multiple institutions coexist has a better chance of tackling the multiplicity of challenges posed by contagion"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Epidemics and Institutions

The Market

The State

The Local Community

Religion

Medical Guilds and Associations

The Family

Is There a Magic Pill?.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780691255569

9780691267418

0691267413

OCLC:

1474238913