Epidemic Governance and the Racialized Logic of Cholera: From Public Health to Empire

This paper examines the transformation of government responsibility for epidemic outbreaks in the UK, focusing on cholera from the late 18th to the early 20th century, as covered in The Times (UK). Initially, cholera was framed within religious narratives, but by the mid-19th century, Enlightenment ideals and scientific discourses redefined disease as a matter of human agency. This shift raised the question of who would bear the responsibility for managing epidemics. Early discussions about individual and local responsibility gradually gave way to the establishment of government responsibility and the concept of public health itself, particularly as debates about the costs of epidemic management intensified. By the late 19th century, the well-established framework of government responsibility became entangled with nationalist rivalries and colonial management, where public health governance was used not only for disease control but also as a tool for reinforcing racial and class hierarchies. The racialization of colonial subjects became a crucial component of imperial governance, as public health measures justified deeper state interventions and the construction of paternalistic narratives. This paper argues that the rise of public health governance in Britain was shaped by a complex interplay between scientific advancement, economic interests, and the racialized logic of imperialism. Meanwhile, understandings of disease and ideas of public health served to shape racialization processes, not only in Britain but across its empire—including the postcolonial world order. These historical insights contribute to understanding how epidemics management continues to shape the discourse of race and colonialism, offering a vital lens for analyzing the intersections of public health and state power.