Anatomy of a riot : The biopolitics of the British cholera riots, 1831–1832
department or school: Arts and Social Sciences, Irving K. Barber Faculty of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: Ikebuchi, Reilly
issued: 2024-08-29T18:42:31Z
issued: 2024
related degree: Master of Arts - MA
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The British Cholera Riots of 1831 and 1832 were a series of working-class protests against public health policies and the perceived proliferation of graverobbing during the Second Cholera Pandemic. For decades, medicine had been increasingly institutionalized as an arm of biopower. Medicine reinforced existing power structures, and in exchange, legislative and judicial bodies granted medical authorities the prerogative to experiment on working-class bodies. When cholera arrived in Britain, the working class was forced to choose between submitting themselves to potentially predatory medical authorities or face disease and death alone. This thesis investigates the historical relationship between doctors and poor communities to understand why the Cholera Riots occurred. It contends that the riots were a reaction by the working class to the encroachment of this biopolitical medical authority on traditional cultural practices and bodily rights. Through a genealogical analysis of medicine’s relationship with the working class and a historical analysis of the Cholera Riots supported by archival research, this thesis broadens the traditional scope of research to introduce new perspectives and contexts. Traditionally studied as an epidemiological event, I posit that the Cholera Riots must be situated in a broader chronological scope to understand the power dynamics at work. This thesis thus aims to return agency to the rioters by providing a historical rationale for their behaviour that moves beyond their reputation as irrational.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/89103
note: Anatomy of a Riot: The Biopolitics of the British Cholera Riots, 1831–1832 by Reilly Ikebuchi B.A., University of British Columbia Okanagan, 2022 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Interdisciplinary Studies) (Power, Conflict and Ideas) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) August 2024 © Reilly Ikebuchi, 2024ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled: Anatomy of a Riot: The Biopolitics of the British Cholera Riots, 1831–1832 Submitted by Reilly Ikebuchi in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts. Dr. Margaret Carlyle, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Supervisor Dr. Agnieszka Doll, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Tim Paulson, Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Supervisory Committee Member Dr. George Grinnell, Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies University Examiner iii Abstract The British Cholera Riots of 1831 and 1832 were a series of working-class protests against public health policies and the perceived proliferation of graverobbing during the Second Cholera Pandemic. For decades, medicine had been increasingly institutionalized as an arm of biopower. Medicine reinforced existing power structures, and in exchange, legislative and judicial bodies granted medical authorities the prerogative to experiment on working-class bodies. When cholera arrived in Britain, the working class was forced to choose between submitting themselves to potentially predatory medical authorities or face disease and death alone. This thesis investigates the historical relationship between doctors and poor communities to understand why the Cholera Riots occurred. It contends that the riots were a reaction by the working class to the encroachment of this biopolitical …
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2024-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0445233
language: eng
degree discipline: Interdisciplinary Studies
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Carlyle, Margaret Eileen
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/89103