The Sino-Japanese War (1937-45) had a devastating impact on China's civilian population. Braving bandits, disease, and dangerous roads, the China Convoy - a Quaker-sponsored humanitarian unit - delivered medical supplies and provided famine relief in the unoccupied territory of "Free China" and later to both sides in the ensuing civil war. China Gadabouts examines the contested roles played by Western and Chinese nurses in the Convoy's humanitarian efforts from 1941 to 1951. In so doing, it re-examines the quandaries of Quakers' purportedly apolitical global engagement that remain salient for contemporary humanitarians. Susan Armstrong-Reid explores how this work gave meaning to the women's lives and how they attempted to carve out personal and professional space despite a chaotic, unfamiliar, and occasionally hostile environment. China Gadabouts illuminates the ethical dilemmas, professional challenges, and opportunities presented by humanitarian nursing within a Western-based relief organization, while acknowledging its contentious imperial role. In doing so, it spotlights an understudied area of global nursing - its role within INGOs, now more active than ever in global health care.

This critical reassessment of the Quaker-sponsored humanitarian nursing convoy in 1940s China will deepen understanding of the ethical, cultural, and political barriers to delivering humanitarian assistance then and now.

About the Author
Susan Armstrong-Reid is an adjunct professor in the Department of History at the University of Guelph. She is the author of Lyle Creelman: The Frontiers of Global Nursing (2014) and coauthor, with David Murray, of Armies of Peace: Canada and the UNRRA Years (2008). In 2016, she was the recipient of the H-15 Grant from the American Association for the History of Nursing, and in 2012-13 of the Lillian Sholtis Brunner Fellowship from the Barbara Bates Centre for the History of Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. A member of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Association for the History of Nursing, she also serves on the Leadership Advisory Board at the University of Guelph.

Reviews
The book contributes in an interesting and valuable way to the history of nursing by women in faith. -- Charmaine Robson, University of New South Wales * Health and History, Vol. 20, No. 2 *


Awards
Winner of Lavina L. Dock Award, American Association for the History of Nursing 2018 (United States).



Book Information
ISBN 9780774835930
Author Susan Armstrong-Reid
Format Paperback
Page Count 356
Imprint University of British Columbia Press
Publisher University of British Columbia Press
Weight(grams) 480g