Rhodes Center Podcast: Austerity Myths and the Health of Nations: What Malawi Tells Us

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Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs

Күн бұрын

Austerity Myths and the Health of Nations: What Malawi Tells Us About the Construction of Scarcity
On this episode Mark talks with Luke Messac, physician, historian, and author of ‘No More to Spend: Neglect and the Construction of Scarcity in Malawi's History of Health Care.’ They discuss how Malawi’s politics over the last century has - like in many countries - been defined by a rhetoric of scarcity and austerity. As Luke shows though, this scarcity is more often the product of political decisions rather than structural pressures, with devastating consequences for the country’s healthcare system. If you’re interested in how geopolitics and economics affect the health of nations, this is the book (and podcast) for you.
You can learn more about and purchase Luke’s book here: [global.oup.com/academic/product/…92?cc=us&lang=en&]

Пікірлер: 29

@JosephusAurelius 3 жыл бұрын

Mark Blyth . Another great informative video

@huss4realz 3 жыл бұрын

100% agree, he always has on the best guests with the most fascinating books

@samuelglover7685 3 жыл бұрын

Really interesting and informative. Many thanks to Dr Blyth for putting Messac on to begin with, *and* for conducting such a skillful interview. The long shadow of that railroad/debt anchor is sobering. It's almost Biblical Yea verily thy children's children shall pay tribute to the railroad scam of '19 Anyway, again, much appreciated. I'm happy to say this not least because I've been ruder than I should have in comments for Blyth's monthly podcast.

@Chubearishere 3 жыл бұрын

Really great stuff

@troywalkertheprogressivean8433 3 жыл бұрын

4:30 "monorail, monorail🎶"

@Herbwise 3 жыл бұрын

At 5 minutes when he talks about the railway through the Belgian landowner's property, I am reminded of P3s where govt guarantee profits.

@marybusch6182 3 жыл бұрын

I am ordering this book now. I have already read King Leopolds Ghosts and The Opium Wars and this should round those out nicely. How anyone can pretend this doesn't matter or happen here is oblivious to reality. but then again there is nothing in our news about the Western Sahara either..

@z00ml1d9 3 жыл бұрын

Very interesting. I'd heard India's railways were built and funded in a similar way. I'm now wondering if that was the case for all of the UKs colonial railways. I'm also wondering to what extent this was true for other sectors, and investment from and taxation by the Metropolis.

@catcatcatcatcatcatcatcatcatca 3 жыл бұрын

If neoliberalism took hold before the end of colonialism they would have created world bank as a method of privatisation of the colonial states. The debt given and the conditions it carries amount to speculative instrument tool for imperialist value-extraction.

@end3rzl33t 3 жыл бұрын

That's basically is colonialism and how Egypt became a British colony if I remember correctly. Sold a bill of goods it couldn't pay and the UK volunteered itself to run the country to pay it off.

@danielbtwd 3 жыл бұрын

Progress and poverty Henry James.

@cbx500cbx 3 жыл бұрын

If there was no train they would have spent it on health care? Ha ha ha.

@fliteshare 3 жыл бұрын

If there was no DEBT, they could've spent on Healthcare.

@Frank-cj3nh 3 жыл бұрын

How Fraud Explains the Economy.

@nelsondisalvatore9812 3 жыл бұрын

Why does every shitty finacial thing done to Africa is always traced back to the duch?

@lukejolley8354 3 жыл бұрын

What was the state of Malawi’s metallurgy, or optical glass production, or clockworks, intercontinental navigation before the colonial period? It was zero. Because Malawi was a Stone Age civilization before the British got there. And it would still be a Stone Age civilization if we had never discovered the place.

@tonywilson4713 3 жыл бұрын

That's half true. FYI - I'm Australian and weld held (past tense) similar views about our native population. What we have discovered in recent decades is that our native populations had different skill sets that we seriously underestimated. Their harsh environment survival skill set is so far in front of the rest of our population its impossible to measure. I have worked in our remote mining industry. I have been in places where the my life expectancy beyond the perimeter was 3-6 hours. The natives have generations of experience with knowing where to find food and water and how to avoid getting bitten. Generally in Australia if it can bite it can also kill you. Their language skills are staggering. Before 10 most of them are fluent in 4 or more native languages as well as English. I can't speak for other native populations but we have learned that there is more to skill sets than what western society values. Don't forget we don't have to go back that far in Western history to find ugly stone age barbarity. For centuries most of European Sundays were church in the morning for lessons in life and afternoon executions for more lessons in life with a bonus of some general entertainment.

@markabrams488 3 жыл бұрын

I don't know about natural mineral resources in Malawi, but across the border in Zambia ( federated with Malawi in the 1950's) the Kaonde people were smelting copper and trading in ingots centuries before the British arrived.

@Thandi123 3 жыл бұрын

Wrong. Prior to colonialism Malawi was the center of the Maravi Empire, which was noted for its iron forging. It was done in by its feuding sub-chiefs, and its neighbours raiding its population for the slave trade.

@Dawt_Calm 3 жыл бұрын

@Luke Jolley Because societies have not moved into industrialisation at exactly the same rate is not a justification for colonialism. Even if Malawi had stayed a stone age civilization, they still have the right to self determination. The British didn't "discover the place". How can you discover a place where people already exist. You can only take that frame of mind if the people who are already there don't matter. Everything you said is so fracked up, it doesn't even rise to the level of being wrong. China is pulling far ahead of Britain in terms of technological development. Does that give China the right to colonize Britain now? lol People are so silly sometimes.