Steven Paas, Johannes Rebmann: A Servant of God in Africa before the Rise of Western Colonialism (edition afem – mission academics 32). Bonn: VTR and VKW, 274 pp., illus., maps, pbk. $29.95, ISBN 978-3941750487.

Moral transgression, disease and holistic health in the Livingstonia Mission in late nineteenth and early twenttieth-century Malawi

This article examines ideas of morality and health, and connections between moral transgression and disease in both Scottish missionary and Central African thought in the context of the Livingstonia Mission of the Presbyterian Free Church of Scotland in Malawi during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.2 By concentrating on debates, conflicts and co-operation between missionaries and Africans over the key issues of beer drinking and sexual morality, this article explores the emergence of a new ‘moral hygiene’ among African Christian communities in Northern Malawi.<br><br>Este artículo analiza las ideas sobre moralidad y salud, así como las relaciones entre transgre…

"Imperial Networks, Colonial Bioprospecting and Burroughs Wellcome & Co.: The Case of Strophanthus Kombe from Malawi (1859-1915)"

Recent research has begun to highlight the complex connections between colonialism, medical and scientific knowledge-production, and commercial interests. This article analyses colonial ‘bioprospecting’ through a case study of Strophanthus kombe. Used locally as an arrow poison, Strophanthus was ‘discovered’ in Malawi during David Livingstone’s Zambesi expedition. After investigation and experimentation it was subsequently used to produce a cardiac drug. The Malawian case study complements previous work on Strophanthus from West Africa. It uncovers the early Scottish-Central African networks that linked the Shire valley, (the source of Malawian kombe seeds) with medical research in Edinburg…

Doctors of body, soul and society : Scottish medical missionaries of the Livingstonia mission in Nyasaland 1875-1914

Quests for Health and Contests for Meaning: African Church Leaders and Scottish Missionaries in the Early Twentieth Century Presbyterian Church in Northern Malawi

This article is a micro-level case study in the cultural history of medicine and healing in Africa. It analyses issues of health, healing and medicine in the early Presbyterian Church in the Northern Malawi region during the first decades of the twentieth century. A central theme is the relationship between the emerging church and African healing theories and practices. The initial focus is on the discussions and debates in the Livingstonia Presbytery, the central meeting forum for the missionaries and African church leaders. The article then shifts to the level of individual congregations and church leaders, consulting congregation papers and oral sources, analysing the role of African cle…

Missions, Nurses and Knowledge Transfer: The Case of Early Colonial Malawi

Transgresión moral, enfermedad y salud holística en la Misión Livingstonia en Malawi a finales del siglo XIX y principios del siglo XX

This article examines ideas of morality and health, and connections between moral transgression and disease in both Scottish missionary and Central African thought in the context of the Livingstonia Mission of the Presbyterian Free Church of Scotland in Malawi during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.2 By concentrating on debates, conflicts and co-operation between missionaries and Africans over the key issues of beer drinking and sexual morality, this article explores the emergence of a new ‘moral hygiene’ among African Christian communities in Northern Malawi.

Monelta kantilta : Ilkka Nummelalle omistettu juhlakirja

Missionaries, Agents of Empire and Medical Educators: Scottish Doctors in Late Nineteenth-Century Southern and East-Central Africa

The government medical service and British missions in colonial Malawi, c. 1891–1940 : crucial collaboration, hidden conflicts

KINGS M. PHIRI, JOHN McCRACKEN, WAPULUMUKA O. MULWAFU, editors, Malawi in Crisis: the 1959/60 Nyasaland State of Emergency and its legacy. Zomba: Kachere Books (pb £24.95 – 978 9 990887 77 8). 2012, xiv+412 pp.