ABSTRACT
Public health authorities campaigning against infant mortality and tuberculosis in the early twentieth century faced a problem very much analogous to that confronting the present-day cancer agencies. Most policy makers influential in the formulation of health policies were against profound structural changes or considered them to be beyond the scope of their rightful duties. The knowledge about urban health problems reflected the spatial and social arrangements in the city. In Gothenburg, where socio-spatial segregation was less pronounced, the health authorities were not particularly interested in comparing different city wards. In theory, the Gothenburg authorities probably embraced the same family ideal as their Birmingham counterparts, but in practice, they had to acknowledge that this ideal was too far removed from the working-class reality to be credible. The case studies of infant welfare and anti-tuberculosis campaigns show that public health officials, in spite of their ambitious rhetoric, sought solutions to urban health problems broadly within the existing gender and class structures.
