French History Advance Access originally published online on April 24, 2009
French History 2009 23(2):216-240; doi:10.1093/fh/crp005
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Philanthropies croisées: a joint venture in public health at Lyon (1917–1940)
* Pierre-Yves Saunier is chargé de recherche at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (research group ‘Environnement Ville Société’, Lyon, France). He may be contacted at pierre-yves.saunier{at}wanadoo.fr. Ludovic Tournès is maître de conférences at the University of Rouen. He may be contacted at ludovic.tournes{at}wanadoo.fr
 |
Abstract |
|---|
Since the end of the First World War the Rockefeller Foundation has spearheaded a large-scale programme in the field of education for the health professions (doctors and nurses). In several countries throughout the world, but with its efforts concentrated on Europe, it has financed schools, constructed information networks, granted research scholarships and awarded training bursaries. In so doing it has not, however, been in the business of propagating an irresistible ‘American model’, nor has it pursued a huge undertaking in disinterested aid. Through an attempt to contextualize these programmes, to bring to light the existence of common reference points, to retrace the work with local participants and to appraise cleavages within the philanthropic apparatus, this article proposes a fine-grained reading of the role of the Rockefeller Foundation at the Faculté de Médecine (Faculty of Medicine) and the Ecole d’Infirmières et d’assistantes sociales (Training School for Nurses and Social Workers) in Lyon between 1917- and 1940. It analyses these institutions in terms of the transactions, negotiations and appropriations that highlight their joint-venture character and it identifies their varied impact.