Occupational citizenships: Practice, routine, and bureaucracy among nurses and midwives in rural Burkina Faso

TY - JOUR

T1 - Occupational citizenships

T2 - Practice, routine, and bureaucracy among nurses and midwives in rural Burkina Faso

AU - Østergaard, Lise Rosendal

PY - 2016/9/13

Y1 - 2016/9/13

N2 - Health workers are an overlooked category in the growing literature on health and citizenship. In this article I describe a 2012–2013 nationwide conflict in the public Health care sector in Burkina Faso to explore how ideas about citizenship were mobilized in a situation of political agitation. I examine how public health care is done in a context of material deprivation, technological shortage, and great demand from the population. Three distinct repertoires of practice, routine, and bureaucracy are identified, through which health workers strive to make meaning of their work and engage in the practice of public Health care. Drawing on these findings, I argue that adopting a citizenship framework offers an opportunity to improve our understanding of the multiple ways in which health workers manage the difficulties related to being (health professionals) and doing (professional Health care) in rural Burkina Faso.

AB - Health workers are an overlooked category in the growing literature on health and citizenship. In this article I describe a 2012–2013 nationwide conflict in the public Health care sector in Burkina Faso to explore how ideas about citizenship were mobilized in a situation of political agitation. I examine how public health care is done in a context of material deprivation, technological shortage, and great demand from the population. Three distinct repertoires of practice, routine, and bureaucracy are identified, through which health workers strive to make meaning of their work and engage in the practice of public Health care. Drawing on these findings, I argue that adopting a citizenship framework offers an opportunity to improve our understanding of the multiple ways in which health workers manage the difficulties related to being (health professionals) and doing (professional Health care) in rural Burkina Faso.

UR - http://www.medanthrotheory.org/issue/vol-3-2/

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2405-691X

VL - 3

SP - 244

EP - 268

JO - MAT Medicine Anthropology Theory

JF - MAT Medicine Anthropology Theory

IS - 2

ER -