Ida Blom

Medicine, morality, and political culture : legislation on venereal disease in five northern European countries, c. 1870-c. 1995 Ida Blom

In Medicine, morality, and political culture the celebrated historian Ida Blom analyses the political culture of five welfare states – the three social-democratic states of Scandinavia, the conservative German state, and the liberal British state – with a view to understanding how relations between the individual citizen and the state vary. Pointing to important differences between the Scandinavian countries, the book charts the interaction of medicine and sexual morality, indicating the influence – or lack of influence – of medical opinion, and the impact of debates about gender, sexuality, and religion on policies intended to combat venereal disease.