Ailing City

Diego Armus is Associate Professor of Latin American History at Swarthmore College. He has written and edited several books in Spanish, and is the editor of Disease in the History of Modern Latin America: From Malaria to AIDS, also published by Duke University Press.

“This book is a valuable addition to the history of Buenos Aires and to the history of medicine. Instructors in these fields as well as in urban studies will welcome its appearance in English.” - Julia Rodriguez (American Historical Review) “For its thought-provoking analysis of the discourses surrounding tuberculosis, based on deep immersion in historical archives, and for its reconstruction of the clandestine, perilous corners of dynamic urban life, The Ailing City deserves attention from historical geographers, especially those with an interest in the modernization of Latin American cities.” - Eric D. Carter (Journal of Historical Geography) “At a time when the spectre of tuberculosis has again raised its ugly head across the world, this well informed history of the disease and its treatment in the Argentine capital makes a significant contribution to public health debates…. This book is worth reading, revealing as it does that combating disease is never just the preserve of scientists and technocrats, but often a political task that involves taking a hard look at poverty and social deprivation.” - Gavin O'Toole (Latin American Review of Books) “Diego ArmÚs has written an important book that tells us much about how the reaction to tuberculosis helped create the modern society of the city of Buenos Aires. The impact was not just on hospitals, sanatoria and those who suffered the disease – tuberculosis also had a significant and interesting impact on many sectors of the city’s culture. This is a book well worth reading.” - Joel Horowitz (Journal of Latin American Studies) “This analysis of the discourses, practices, and images of tuberculosis in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Buenos Aires delivers a comprehensive overview of the many ways in which fears about the disease influenced daily life in the Argentine metropolis. ... Armus’s book is a rich and welcome study of how discussions about disease prevention and control reflected broader cultural and political anxieties during a period of significant social change in Argentina.” - Katherine Bliss (The Americas) “... The Ailing City serves as a exemplary work in the social and cultural history of disease, and it will justifiably become a prized resource on its topic.” - Mariola Espinosa (Medical History) “This is an important book based on an exhaustive examination of materials on TB as a disease and cultural artifact. It will be essential reading for those interested in Latin American History, the social history of disease, the history of TB and Argentine History.” - Ann Zulawski (Global Public Health) "Armus’s study excels not just as a history of tuberculosis but also as an urban history, a history of medicalization, and a history of hygiene. This last focus is a particular strength of the book, as Armus masterfully reconstructs the multiple and shifting understandings of hygiene present in Buenos Aires during this period." - Adam Warren (Hispanic American Historical Review)

• List of Figures viiAcknowledgments ixIntroduction: A History of Tuberculosis in Modern Buenos Aires 11. People with Tuberculosis Looking for Cures 232. From Being Sick to Becoming a Patient 493. Unruly and Well-Adjusted Patients 844. The Fight against Tuberculosis and the Culture of Hygiene 1155. The Obsession with Contagion 1416. A Disease of Excesses 1897. Immigration, Race, and Tuberculosis 2218. A Female Disease 2519. Forging the Healthy Body: Physical Education, Soccer, Childhood, and Tuberculosis 27610. Tuberculosis and Regeneration: Imagined Cities, Green Spaces, and Hygienic Housing 307Epilogue 345Abbreviations 351Notes 353Selected Bibliography 397Index 409