Friends, partners, and orphans
The essay juxtaposes three moments of medical infrastructure and technology aid in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: 1960, 2010, and 2005. The operative terms of these moments are relationship terms: ‘friendship’, ‘partnership’, and ‘orphan’. The 1960 gift of a hospital, equipment, and training made a friend, a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Edinburgh Library
2018-05-01
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| Series: | Medicine Anthropology Theory |
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| Online Access: | http://www.medanthrotheory.org/article/view/4861 |
| _version_ | 1818728831029084160 |
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| author | Jenna Grant |
| author_facet | Jenna Grant |
| author_sort | Jenna Grant |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The essay juxtaposes three moments of medical infrastructure and technology aid in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: 1960, 2010, and 2005. The operative terms of these moments are relationship terms: ‘friendship’, ‘partnership’, and ‘orphan’. The 1960 gift of a hospital, equipment, and training made a friend, and reciprocity involved political alignment at the level of the nation-state. The 2010 gift of equipment and training made a partner, and reciprocity involved brand alignment spread across diverse government ministries, public hospitals, private universities, and private businesses. Focusing on the materiality of technology and infrastructure gifts brings us to the orphan. The orphan is a gift that turns toxic. Its toxicity is health-threatening if there is no infrastructure to secure it. The elaborate partnerships required to identify and secure orphan sources of radiation show how gifts of medical technology and infrastructure exist beyond their immediate utility to humans. What technology of partnership will the medical physicist of 2050 unearth, and what ethic of relationality will come to care for, repair, and secure it? |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:36:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-697aa4f8afa1428f9232411eabb0479e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-691X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T22:36:14Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | University of Edinburgh Library |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Medicine Anthropology Theory |
| spelling | doaj.art-697aa4f8afa1428f9232411eabb0479e2022-12-21T21:30:05ZengUniversity of Edinburgh LibraryMedicine Anthropology Theory2405-691X2018-05-015210.17157/mat.5.2.5334861Friends, partners, and orphansJenna GrantThe essay juxtaposes three moments of medical infrastructure and technology aid in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: 1960, 2010, and 2005. The operative terms of these moments are relationship terms: ‘friendship’, ‘partnership’, and ‘orphan’. The 1960 gift of a hospital, equipment, and training made a friend, and reciprocity involved political alignment at the level of the nation-state. The 2010 gift of equipment and training made a partner, and reciprocity involved brand alignment spread across diverse government ministries, public hospitals, private universities, and private businesses. Focusing on the materiality of technology and infrastructure gifts brings us to the orphan. The orphan is a gift that turns toxic. Its toxicity is health-threatening if there is no infrastructure to secure it. The elaborate partnerships required to identify and secure orphan sources of radiation show how gifts of medical technology and infrastructure exist beyond their immediate utility to humans. What technology of partnership will the medical physicist of 2050 unearth, and what ethic of relationality will come to care for, repair, and secure it?http://www.medanthrotheory.org/article/view/4861global healthtechnologyhistorycambodia |
| spellingShingle | Jenna Grant Friends, partners, and orphans Medicine Anthropology Theory global health technology history cambodia |
| title | Friends, partners, and orphans |
| title_full | Friends, partners, and orphans |
| title_fullStr | Friends, partners, and orphans |
| title_full_unstemmed | Friends, partners, and orphans |
| title_short | Friends, partners, and orphans |
| title_sort | friends partners and orphans |
| topic | global health technology history cambodia |
| url | http://www.medanthrotheory.org/article/view/4861 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jennagrant friendspartnersandorphans |