Department for Politics and International Studies & King's College, University of Cambridge, UK.
Soc Sci Med. 2018 Aug;211:321-329. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.06.037. Epub 2018 Jun 28.
This article explores the complex position of local physicians at times of political unrest or conflict, conceptualizing local medical voluntarism as a form of collective action. It analyzes the evolving interpretation of medical neutrality among Egyptian physicians who provided medical assistance to injured protesters in the Egyptian uprising (2011-2013). In-depth interviews with 24 medical and non-medical volunteers on their perception of medical neutrality were matched with their mobilization and participation history, showing the extent towards which political considerations influenced their voluntary medical engagement. The results firstly show that revolutionary political considerations played a central role in the physicians' mobilization into medical networks active in the protests, as well as in their interpretation of their medical and non-medical activities. Secondly, I argue that the interpretation of medical neutrality among Egyptian physicians evolved significantly over time. A special type of medical volunteer took shape, the mīdānī physician. This physician openly expresses his/her political convictions and adheres to (self-defined) humanitarian principles through a conscious reconciliation of the two. The article details the increasing difficulty of this task after the revolutionary movement splintered into competing factions and citizens ended up fighting each other instead of authoritarian rule.
本文探讨了地方医生在政治动荡或冲突时期的复杂处境，将地方医疗志愿主义概念化为一种集体行动。它分析了在 2011 年至 2013 年埃及起义期间向受伤抗议者提供医疗援助的埃及医生对医疗中立性的不断变化的解释。对 24 名医疗和非医疗志愿者进行了深入访谈，了解他们对医疗中立性的看法，并与他们的动员和参与历史进行了匹配，以显示政治考虑在多大程度上影响了他们的志愿医疗参与。研究结果首先表明，革命政治考虑在医生动员到参与抗议活动的医疗网络中起着核心作用，也影响了他们对医疗和非医疗活动的解释。其次，我认为，埃及医生对医疗中立性的解释随着时间的推移发生了重大变化。一种特殊类型的医疗志愿者出现了，即 mīdānī 医生。这位医生通过有意识地调和两者，公开表达自己的政治信仰，并坚持（自我定义的）人道主义原则。本文详细介绍了在革命运动分裂成相互竞争的派别，公民之间相互争斗而不是与独裁统治作斗争之后，这项任务变得越来越困难。
