Learning to Save the World: Global Health Pedagogies and Fantasies of Transformation in Botswana

Learning to Save the World offers an innovative analysis of how individuals inhabit, refuse, and reconfigure the contours of global health, demonstrating how global health is a frontier that organizes the space, time, and ethics of encounter.

Format: Hardback
Length: 282 pages
Publication date: 15 February 2023
Publisher: Cornell University Press

Learning to Save the World is a groundbreaking exploration of how individuals inhabit, resist, and reconfigure the contours of global health. In 2001, facing one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world, Botswana's government committed itself to launching Sub-Saharan Africa's first free public HIV treatment program. US-based private foundations and medical schools provided support to demonstrate the feasibility of public HIV treatment in Africa, fostering opportunities for US physicians and medical trainees to interact with local practitioners, treat patients, and shape health policy in Botswana. While global health has emerged as a powerful call to planetary moral action, the nature of this exhortation remains ambiguous. Is global health a new movement for social justice or a neocolonial endeavor that creates new dependencies under the guise of humanitarianism? Betsey Behr Brada demonstrates that global health is a frontier, an imaginative framework that organizes the space, time, and ethics of encounter.

Learning to Save the World delves into how individuals and collectivities engaged in global health come to regard themselves and others through this framework. It explores the ways in which visiting experts, local clinicians, and patients navigate the complexities of global health, challenging traditional hierarchies and power dynamics. The book sheds light on the ethical considerations and challenges associated with global health interventions, such as the distribution of resources, the role of technology, and the impact of cultural differences on healthcare practices.

Through its innovative analysis, Learning to Save the World provides valuable insights into the complex dynamics of global health and offers a framework for understanding how individuals and collectivities can contribute to positive change in the world. It challenges readers to think critically about the role of the United States in global health and encourages them to consider alternative approaches to addressing global health challenges.

In conclusion, Learning to Save the World is a must-read for anyone interested in global health, social justice, and the ethics of encounter. It offers a fresh perspective on the complexities of global health and provides valuable insights into how individuals and collectivities can work together to create a more equitable and sustainable world.

Weight: 454g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501762413