ONLINE: Empire of Rubber

press release: The Global Health Tuesday seminar series hosts researchers and practitioners from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and across the world. The speakers showcase the complexity of global health challenges and the many kinds of expertise needed to address them. By sharing their experiences with the campus and Madison communities, these guests provide insights into global health, encourage conversation, and help connect colleagues locally and globally.

Global Health Tuesday: Empire of Rubber, 4:30-5:30 p.m. UW Professor Gregg Mitman’s new book, “Empire of Rubber: Firestone’s Scramble for Land and Power in Liberia,” tells a story of ecology and disease, of commerce and science, and of racial politics and political maneuvering, as Firestone Tire and Rubber Company sought to transform Liberia into America’s rubber empire. Mitman will discuss how medical humanitarianism aided Firestone in its attempts to solidify control of land and labor in Liberia. The plantations, in turn, became an experimental laboratory for American biomedical research and reveal the medical racism and Jim Crow attitudes of Firestone’s corporate culture in building a plantation world.