VIRUS Band 20, pp. 019-040, 2022/06/14
Schwerpunkt: Kulturgeschichte(n) der Impfung
Vaccinations have always been political. They are as much about the relationship of the individual to society as they are about the relationship between the state and the citizen: Who determines the body? What must the individual do for the general good? I therefore understand vaccination as a kind of probe with which we can examine social change. My paper draws on recent historical research to present four perspectives on a history of vaccination. First, I focus on vaccination programmes in the context of state building, second, on social practices and the everyday history of vaccination. Third, I sketch out the rise of pharmaceutical companies and the economization of vaccination and fourth, I name the potential of vaccination campaigns for global history.
Keywords: Vaccines, Mandatory Vaccination, Pandemics, Epidemics, Smallpox, Diphtheria, Polio
