Disrupting Global Health Narratives:
Alternative Perspectives on the World Bank’s Influence on
Global Health
21-23 January 2019
Brocher Foundation Centre
Hermance, Switzerland
The University of Edinburgh's Global Health Governance Programme invites applications from researchers from non-OECD countries and residing in Geneva to attend its 2019 Symposium, ‘Disrupting Global Health Narratives,’ at the Brocher Foundation Centre. We especially encourage early career scholars to apply. The Symposium draws on our Economic Gaze project (PI Devi Sridhar), which explores the emergence of the World Bank’s global health framework. It will bring together world experts in anthropology, history, health policy, and political science to consider current understandings (‘narratives’) of the World Bank’s investment in health since the 1960s. The goal of the Symposium is to identify ways in which ‘alternative narratives’ – narratives with a more inclusive perspective – can be used to study international health organizations like the World Bank.
The Symposium will take place over three days, and will include panels on the Bank’s collaborations with other international organizations; influence on the privatization and financialization of health; and role in creating and disseminating health metrics. Panels and discussions will focus on identifying themes that have been under-emphasized in research on the Bank and global health, particularly from the perspective of the Global South. Discussions will also consider the adequacy of traditional sources – archival sources, qualitative and oral history interviews, financial data, and ethnographies – in chronicling the Bank’s health influence.
For more information about the Global Health Governance Programme, please visit our website and take a look at our series on the World Bank and global health in the BMJ and Wellcome Open Research. The provisional workshop program will be available on our website.
To apply, you must be a researcher based in Geneva, specializing in anthropology, sociology, history, political science, and/or a public health discipline. You should have a demonstrated interest in the governance of health organizations and global health policy. The Symposium is free of charge, and catering – but not lodging or travel costs – will be included. You must be able to attend all three days.
To apply, please email globalhealthgovernance@gmail.com with your CV and a 250-word statement on (1) your particular interest in global health policy and (2) your goals for participating in the Symposium.
We only have a few places available in the workshop. For full consideration, please submit your application by 22 October 2018.
