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The Female Imperial Agent and the Intricacies of PowerBritish Nurses in Mandate Palestine

The Female Imperial Agent and the Intricacies of PowerBritish Nurses in Mandate Palestine British women have hitherto been almost absent from the history of British colonialism in the Middle East, and particularly in Mandate Palestine (1918–48). By using an individual tale of a British nurse as a vantage point, the article explores the personal and professional experiences of British nurses in Mandate Palestine and scrutinizes their contested status. As women, as British, as medical practitioners, and specifically as nurses, British nurses present a singular type of local-level imperial agent who confronted multiple challenges to their identities. Empowered as imperial agents of health, biomedicine, and hygiene, they had exercised professional, cultural, and racial authority over indigenous people. At the same time, their gender, vocation, and marital status have limited their scope of influence within a male-dominated medical hierarchy, as well as locate them at the lower strata of British colonial society. Nurses’ tales thus offer a unique perspective for investigating colonial power relations and the intersections of medicine, gender, race, and class. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Middle East Women's Studies Duke University Press

The Female Imperial Agent and the Intricacies of PowerBritish Nurses in Mandate Palestine

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Copyright
Copyright © 2022 by the Association for Middle East Women’s Studies
ISSN
1552-5864
eISSN
1558-9579
DOI
10.1215/15525864-9494122
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

British women have hitherto been almost absent from the history of British colonialism in the Middle East, and particularly in Mandate Palestine (1918–48). By using an individual tale of a British nurse as a vantage point, the article explores the personal and professional experiences of British nurses in Mandate Palestine and scrutinizes their contested status. As women, as British, as medical practitioners, and specifically as nurses, British nurses present a singular type of local-level imperial agent who confronted multiple challenges to their identities. Empowered as imperial agents of health, biomedicine, and hygiene, they had exercised professional, cultural, and racial authority over indigenous people. At the same time, their gender, vocation, and marital status have limited their scope of influence within a male-dominated medical hierarchy, as well as locate them at the lower strata of British colonial society. Nurses’ tales thus offer a unique perspective for investigating colonial power relations and the intersections of medicine, gender, race, and class.

Journal

Journal of Middle East Women's Studies – Duke University Press

Published: Mar 1, 2022

References

  • The ‘White Woman’s Burden’ in the ‘White Man’s Grave’: The Introduction of British Nurses in Colonial West Africa
    Birkett, Dea Chaudhuri, Nupur Strobel, Margaret
  • Enacting Imperial Control: Midwifery Regulation in Mandate Palestine
    Brownson, Elizabeth
  • Contesting the Zenana: The Mission to Make ‘Lady Doctors for India,’ 1874–1885
    Burton, Antoinette
  • Gendering Colonialism or Colonising Gender? Recent Women’s Studies Approaches to White Women and the History of British Colonialism
    Haggis, Jane
  • A Civilizing Influence? The Female Migrant
    Harper, Marjory Harper, Marjory Constantine, Stephen
  • From Maid to Matron: Nursing as a Route to Social Advancement in Nineteenth-Century England
    Hawkins, Sue
  • ‘Interpreters of Occident to the Awakening Orient’: The Jewish Public Health Nurse in Mandate Palestine
    Hirsch, Dafna
  • Colonial Sisters: Nurses in Uganda
    Holden, Pat Holden, Pat Littlewood, Jenny
  • Nursing Empire: Travel Letters from Africa and the Caribbean
    Howell, Jessica
  • Nursing the Tropics: Nurses as Agents of Imperial Hygiene
    Howell, Jessica Rafferty, A. M. Wall, R. Snaith, A.
  • Single Ladies on the Congo: Protestant Missionary Tensions and Voices
    Hunt, Nancy Rose
  • Gender, Professionalism, and Power: The Rise of the Single Female Medical Missionary in Britain and South Africa, 1875–1925
    Ingram, Hilary
  • Heroines of Lonely Outposts or Tools of the Empire? British Nurses in Britain’s Model Colony: Ceylon, 1878–1948
    Jones, Margaret
  • Palestinian Doctors under the British Mandate: The Formation of a Profession
    Kozma, Liat Furas, Yoni
  • Colonial Lives in Palestine, 1920–1948: British Society and Culture in a Mandate Territory” (in Hebrew)
    Krik, Hagit
  • Beyond Anemones: Britons in Mandate Palestine as a Colonial Community
    Krik, Hagit
  • Health and Authority in the Service of Empire: Colonial Nursing in Interwar Palestine and Cyprus
    Krik, Hagit
  • Nurse Recruitment to Four Provincial Hospitals, 1881–1921
    Maggs, Christopher Davies, Celia
  • East African Psychiatry and the Practical Problems of Empire
    Mahone, Sloan Mahone, Sloan Vaughan, Megan
  • The Microphysics of Power: Mental Nursing in South Africa in the First Half of the Twentieth Century
    Marks, Shula Mahone, Sloan Vaughan, Megan
  • ‘One of the Most Serious Problems Confronting Us at Present’: Nurses and Government Hospitals in Southern Rhodesia, 1930s to 1950
    Masakure, Clement
  • (Ad)ministering Angels: Colonial Nursing and the Extension of Empire in Africa
    Nestel, Sheryl
  • Witchcraft or Madness? The Amandiki of Zululand, 1894–1914
    Parle, Julie
  • ‘The Uneasy Alliance’: The Work of British and Bengali Women Medical Professionals in Bengal, 1870–1935
    Paul, Chandrika
  • The Seductions of History and the Nursing Diaspora
    Rafferty, Anne Marie
  • The Rise and Demise of the Colonial Nursing Service: British Nurses in the Colonies, 1896–1966
    Rafferty, Anne Marie Solano, Diana
  • Imperial Nursing: Cross-Cultural Challenges for Women in the Health Professions: A Historical Perspective
    Schultheiss, Katrin
  • A Politics of Care: Local Nurses in Mandate Palestine
    Shatz, Julia R.
  • A Dangerous Legacy: Welfare in British Palestine, 1930–1939
    Simoni, Marcella
  • Hygiene for Nurses
  • Idioms of Madness: Zomba Lunatic Asylum, Nyasaland, in the Colonial Period
    Vaughan, Megan
  • Rediscovering a History of Nursing Management: From Nightingale to the Modern Matron
    Wildman, Stuart Hewison, Alistair
  • The ‘White Woman’s Burden’ in the ‘White Man’s Grave’: The Introduction of British Nurses in Colonial West Africa
    Birkett, Dea Chaudhuri, Nupur Strobel, Margaret
  • Enacting Imperial Control: Midwifery Regulation in Mandate Palestine
    Brownson, Elizabeth
  • Contesting the Zenana: The Mission to Make ‘Lady Doctors for India,’ 1874–1885
    Burton, Antoinette
  • Gendering Colonialism or Colonising Gender? Recent Women’s Studies Approaches to White Women and the History of British Colonialism
    Haggis, Jane
  • A Civilizing Influence? The Female Migrant
    Harper, Marjory Harper, Marjory Constantine, Stephen
  • From Maid to Matron: Nursing as a Route to Social Advancement in Nineteenth-Century England
    Hawkins, Sue
  • ‘Interpreters of Occident to the Awakening Orient’: The Jewish Public Health Nurse in Mandate Palestine
    Hirsch, Dafna
  • Colonial Sisters: Nurses in Uganda
    Holden, Pat Holden, Pat Littlewood, Jenny
  • Nursing Empire: Travel Letters from Africa and the Caribbean
    Howell, Jessica
  • Nursing the Tropics: Nurses as Agents of Imperial Hygiene
    Howell, Jessica Rafferty, A. M. Wall, R. Snaith, A.
  • Single Ladies on the Congo: Protestant Missionary Tensions and Voices
    Hunt, Nancy Rose
  • Gender, Professionalism, and Power: The Rise of the Single Female Medical Missionary in Britain and South Africa, 1875–1925
    Ingram, Hilary
  • Heroines of Lonely Outposts or Tools of the Empire? British Nurses in Britain’s Model Colony: Ceylon, 1878–1948
    Jones, Margaret
  • Palestinian Doctors under the British Mandate: The Formation of a Profession
    Kozma, Liat Furas, Yoni
  • Colonial Lives in Palestine, 1920–1948: British Society and Culture in a Mandate Territory” (in Hebrew)
    Krik, Hagit
  • Beyond Anemones: Britons in Mandate Palestine as a Colonial Community
    Krik, Hagit
  • Health and Authority in the Service of Empire: Colonial Nursing in Interwar Palestine and Cyprus
    Krik, Hagit
  • Nurse Recruitment to Four Provincial Hospitals, 1881–1921
    Maggs, Christopher Davies, Celia
  • East African Psychiatry and the Practical Problems of Empire
    Mahone, Sloan Mahone, Sloan Vaughan, Megan
  • The Microphysics of Power: Mental Nursing in South Africa in the First Half of the Twentieth Century
    Marks, Shula Mahone, Sloan Vaughan, Megan
  • ‘One of the Most Serious Problems Confronting Us at Present’: Nurses and Government Hospitals in Southern Rhodesia, 1930s to 1950
    Masakure, Clement
  • (Ad)ministering Angels: Colonial Nursing and the Extension of Empire in Africa
    Nestel, Sheryl
  • Witchcraft or Madness? The Amandiki of Zululand, 1894–1914
    Parle, Julie
  • ‘The Uneasy Alliance’: The Work of British and Bengali Women Medical Professionals in Bengal, 1870–1935
    Paul, Chandrika
  • The Seductions of History and the Nursing Diaspora
    Rafferty, Anne Marie
  • The Rise and Demise of the Colonial Nursing Service: British Nurses in the Colonies, 1896–1966
    Rafferty, Anne Marie Solano, Diana
  • Imperial Nursing: Cross-Cultural Challenges for Women in the Health Professions: A Historical Perspective
    Schultheiss, Katrin
  • A Politics of Care: Local Nurses in Mandate Palestine
    Shatz, Julia R.
  • A Dangerous Legacy: Welfare in British Palestine, 1930–1939
    Simoni, Marcella
  • Hygiene for Nurses
  • Idioms of Madness: Zomba Lunatic Asylum, Nyasaland, in the Colonial Period
    Vaughan, Megan
  • Rediscovering a History of Nursing Management: From Nightingale to the Modern Matron
    Wildman, Stuart Hewison, Alistair