ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter provides an overview of thAU: Please check carefully if all the changes made in this chapter are acceptable.e book within the discourse of diseases, health, and well-being. The aim of this book is to provide a historical and contemporary analysis of infectious diseases and their impact on human populations, taking tuberculosis (TB) as an example. This chapter also provides an overview of communicable diseases, health, and well-being in a global context and gives the reason behind the book’s focus on TB. The focus on TB is not only because of its deep historical and contemporary impact but also due to its illustrative value in understanding the broader dynamics of infectious diseases within a broader context of poverty and uneven development. Then this chapter explains the methodological approach of this book, which is interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary. Collaboration between medical historians, global health experts, and anthropologists with varied experiences has created the space to critically examine the ideas of diseases, health, and well-being within a global context yet by understanding local realities. Finally, this chapter concludes with descriptions of the backgrounds of the editors as well as contributing authors who came together to finalise this book.
