{"id":252,"date":"2012-03-28T15:25:18","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T19:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/?page_id=252"},"modified":"2012-05-27T17:35:06","modified_gmt":"2012-05-27T21:35:06","slug":"gh-pp-career-biography","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/gh-pp-career-biography\/","title":{"rendered":"Career Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><a href=\"http:\/\/brettsimison.photoshelter.com\/image\/I0000r3Xb058dpUs\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-423\" src=\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/BJS-20090615-6x6-01b.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"235\" height=\"235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/BJS-20090615-6x6-01b.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/BJS-20090615-6x6-01b-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/BJS-20090615-6x6-01b-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 235px) 100vw, 235px\" \/><\/a>Svea Closser<\/h2>\n<p>Svea Closser has focused her research in Pakistan for the past ten years. She has worked with Polio Eradication Initiative employees to examine why the initiative has yet to realize its goals and has developed insightful ideas as to why polio remains a threat.<\/p>\n<h2>Education<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>2000 B.A. from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pomona.edu\/\">Pomona College<\/a><\/li>\n<li>2006 MPH, PhD from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.anthropology.emory.edu\/Graduate\/alumni.html\">Emory University<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Interest in Global Health<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Closser first became interested in global health during a semester she spent in Nepal while earning her undergraduate degree. While in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nepal\" target=\"_blank\">Nepal<\/a>, she realized that development programs may look good on paper but \u201cmay be ineffective at best in practice\u201d (Middlebury, Department of Sociology\/Anthropology. 2012.).<\/li>\n<li>Closser applied for and was awarded a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iie.org\/fulbright\">Fulbright<\/a> to study medicine in <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pakistan\" target=\"_blank\">Pakistan<\/a>. There, she studied the relationship between traditional healers (also known as ethnomedical practitioners) and Primary Care Providers.\u00a0\u201cI concluded that in some areas, ethnomedical practitioners could be great assets in providing basic yet crucial health interventions. However, barriers to effectively working with these healers existed in the culture of health institutions\u201d (Middlebury, Department of Sociology\/Anthropology. 2012.).<\/li>\n<li>Closser\u00a0continued her work in Pakistan and wrote\u00a0her dissertation, &#8220;Global Development in Policy and Practice: The Polio Eradication Initiative from Atlanta to Rural Pakistan&#8221; while at Emory University.<\/li>\n<li>Closser lists her research interests as centered \u201con global health interventions in South Asia, and the global political, economic, and cultural environments that affect their shape and trajectory\u201d (Middlebury, Department of Sociology\/Anthropology. 2012.).<\/li>\n<li>\u201cMy research is driven by the question: What are the reasons for the lackluster results of many global health interventions?\u201d She is driven by the fact that \u201ceven now one in thirteen children born worldwide die before they turn five, the vast majority from preventable and treatable disease\u201d (Middlebury, Department of Sociology\/Anthropology. 2012.).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_426\" style=\"width: 483px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/closser-travels.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-426\" class=\" wp-image-426      \" src=\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/closser-travels.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"473\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/closser-travels.jpg 1041w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/closser-travels-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/closser-travels-1024x537.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 473px) 100vw, 473px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Closser&#039;s academic travels: original map from: http:\/\/www.free-world-maps.com\/ Eliminate this caption? Link to original map.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Fieldwork in Pakistan<\/h2>\n<p>During 2006 and 2007, Closser was awarded funding to continue studying the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.polioeradication.org\/\">Polio Eradication Initiative<\/a> in Pakistan from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wennergren.org\/grantees\/closser-svea-hupy\" target=\"_blank\">the Wenner-Gren Foundation<\/a> and the National Science Foundation. She published an ethnography titled \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com\/books\/370\/chasing-polio-in-pakistan\">Chasing Polio in Pakistan: Why the<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanderbiltuniversitypress.com\/books\/370\/chasing-polio-in-pakistan\">World&#8217;s Largest Public Health Initiative May Fail<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.buy.com\/prod\/chasing-polio-in-pakistan\/212813597.html\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-428\" src=\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/chasing-polio-in-pakistan-id-0826517099.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"267\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/chasing-polio-in-pakistan-id-0826517099.jpeg 267w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/chasing-polio-in-pakistan-id-0826517099-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px\" \/><\/a>Closser\u2019s research consisted of twelve months of fieldwork, ten of which were spent in Pakistan. Her time in Pakistan centered on studying the communities that received door-to-door immunizations as well as the local bureaucracies carrying out the immunizations and surveillance. Her two months outside Pakistani borders were spent at the offices of eradication officials in Geneva and Atlanta. Closser explains that this ethnography \u201cdescribes the power relations that both make the Polio Eradication Initiative possible and foster resistance to international mandates by the local government workers responsible for conducting door-to-door immunization campaigns\u201d (Middlebury, Department of Sociology\/Anthropology. 2012.). The book was published in 2010 by Vanderbilt University Press and\u00a0received the annual Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize for the best project in the area of medicine.<\/p>\n<p>Closser went on to publish a review of the treatment of ground-level health workers in Pakistan for UNICEF that includes recommendations for improving the\u00a0livelihoods\u00a0and productivity of lady health workers. That document can be found <a href=\"http:\/\/www.comminit.com\/files\/experiencesmotivationspolioeradicationsfrontlineworkerspakistan.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Major Findings<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Global Eradication\u00a0Initiative\u00a0has\u00a0thus far\u00a0blamed the failure of polio eradication in Pakistan on operational failures where operational\u00a0feasibility\u00a0is understood to be &#8220;the capacity to deliver the necessary interventions at the necessary scale to the populations where they are needed&#8221; and technical feasibility is defined as\u00a0the &#8220;biological features of the pathogen and available vaccines or other control measures&#8221; (Closser 2010: 31). As an alternative, Closser argues that\u00a0Pakistan\u00a0has yet to eradicate polio\u00a0because\u00a0of its low political and social feasibility. For example, eradicating polio is not the government&#8217;s first priority.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;False optimism&#8221; addresses the optimistic situation presented by international bodies such as the WHO, Rotary, and the CDC compared to the local realities hindering eradication Closser identifies.\u00a0International\u00a0bodies present an optimistic picture to increase funding and encourage donors to financially support the last vaccination push that will finally eradicate polio from Pakistan. Closser argues\u00a0fundamental\u00a0changes must be made within the Eradication Initiative before\u00a0eradication\u00a0will be accomplished.<\/li>\n<li>Lady health workers face a number of difficulties that influence their resistance including long days filled with walking, low pay, and a lack of reasonable childcare. As a result, they find total compliance with strict official protocol difficult.<\/li>\n<li>Government health workers resist their work in a number of ways including &#8220;foot-dragging, false compliance, and the use of networks of patron-clientism&#8221; (Closser 2010: 6). Closser offers adequate\u00a0compensation\u00a0as one solution to resistant employees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Current Position and Research<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Closser is currently an\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.middlebury.edu\/academics\/soan\/faculty\/sc\">Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology<\/a> at Middlebury College.<\/li>\n<li>She has\u00a0recently\u00a0teamed up with collaborators at Brown University to look into community health worker pay\u00a0(Sheridan 2010).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Classes Taught<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>first year seminar of epidemics<\/li>\n<li>African studies senior thesis<\/li>\n<li>South Asian studies in the International Department<\/li>\n<li>advised\u00a0a number of independent projects and senior theses<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.state.gov\/index.php\/site\/entry\/pakistan_children_vaccinations\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-525\" src=\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/2011_0120_pakistan_polio_m1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"355\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/2011_0120_pakistan_polio_m1.jpg 507w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/2011_0120_pakistan_polio_m1-300x168.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 355px) 100vw, 355px\" \/><\/a>global health<\/li>\n<li>ethnographic research<\/li>\n<li>anthropology of Muslim cultures<\/li>\n<li>medical anthropology<\/li>\n<li>success\/failure global health<\/li>\n<li>epidemiology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Click <a title=\"GH PP Major Publications\" href=\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/gh-pp-major-publications\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> for a list of Closser&#8217;s publications.<\/p>\n<h2>I<span style=\"color: #000000\">nterview with Svea Closser, 1 May 2012<\/span><\/h2>\n<div>\n<p><span><strong>Question: What, if any, effects has your research had on the Polio<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>Eradication Initiative since your ethnography was published in 2010?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>Are you glad you highlighted the Initiative&#8217;s shortcomings like you<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>did? Was there any personal or professional backlash to the critiques<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>you presented in your book?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><a href=\"http:\/\/youthfrenzy.com\/articles\/health\/pakistan-polio-eradication-program-and-who-concerns-where-do-we-stand\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1176  alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/end-polio-now-english-and-urdu-pakmed-pakistan.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"342\" height=\"240\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/end-polio-now-english-and-urdu-pakmed-pakistan.jpeg 428w, https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/end-polio-now-english-and-urdu-pakmed-pakistan-300x210.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px\" \/><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Closser:\u00a0<\/strong>One\u00a0outcome was that the Global Independent Monitoring Board read the book and\u00a0found it useful. This was very gratifying! Not everyone agrees with the arguments I make in the book. But respectful disagreement and debate are important parts of healthy academic inquiry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Question: You mention early on that your fieldwork caused you to use<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000\">\u00a0<\/span><strong>interdisciplinary analysis and thought. Do you think anthropology as a<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>whole has gone too far to distinguish itself from other disciplines?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>What benefits are there of coming out of the ivory tower in terms of<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>using additional disciplines or doing activist work during a project?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Closser:\u00a0<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000\">I don&#8217;t think anthropology is alone in having a\u00a0disciplinary\u00a0silo. But I consistently find that working with people from other disciplines broadens my outlook and my understanding&#8211;while at times making me aware of what an anthropologist I am!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Personally, I think the line between &#8220;academic&#8221; and &#8220;activist&#8221; is a bit overblown. All of my academic work is done with practical goals in mind, but that doesn&#8217;t make it any less rigorous or theoretical. I find having the &#8216;so what&#8217; of my work firmly in view keeps me motivated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Question: With the removal of India from the WHO&#8217;s list of countries with\u00a0<\/strong><strong>polio last month, do you think Pakistan&#8217;s agenda will change at all?\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Will funding for the project increase? Do you agree with the\u00a0<\/strong><strong>mandatory vaccinations imposed on Pakistanis traveling in India?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Closser:<\/strong>\u00a0Pakistan is under an enormous amount of pressure currently for polio. In terms of the agenda changing, I think the fundamental issues are the same if not exacerbated since I wrote the book: even with as much pressure as there is for polio, Pakistan has a lot of very serious issues that demand high level attention\u00a0and given these extremely pressing competing priorities, it&#8217;s unlikely that polio\u00a0is truly at the top of the agenda of any major politician.\u00a0Also, responsibility for health has been largely devolved to the states in Pakistan since I wrote the book, so although there is still some central control for polio, it may be less direct than it used to be.\u00a0Funding for the project in Pakistan may increase slightly but it\u2019s unlikely to go through the roof.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">India is not the only country to impose mandatory polio vaccinations on Pakistanis. For example,\u00a0Pakistanis already have to get mandatory polio vaccination to go to Saudi Arabia on the Hajj.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><a href=\"http:\/\/tribune.com.pk\/story\/352720\/rising-cases-of-polio-pakistans-failure-may-put-200000-children-at-risk\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1175  alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/files\/2012\/03\/images.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"207\" height=\"155\" \/><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Question: You talk a lot about resistance and the role resistance plays in\u00a0<\/strong><strong>the failure of fully eradicating polio. Do you think the Initiative in\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Pakistan will learn to work cohesively without resistance to\u00a0<\/strong><strong>accomplish eradication without larger changes (here, I&#8217;m thinking\u00a0<\/strong><strong>about the low pay standards and tough working conditions of lady\u00a0<\/strong><strong>health workers).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Closser:\u00a0<\/strong>There is some talk of improving working conditions of Lady Health Workers, and UNICEF and some other donors\u00a0have taken an interest in this issue since I wrote the book. But, the working conditions are the responsibility of the government\u00a0as well. Accomplishing change in this arena is difficult, and not everyone agrees that it should be a priority.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Question: You mention Paul Farmer and his focus on poverty as the root of all<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000\">\u00a0<\/span><strong>disease. Do you think that eradicating polio will contribute to the<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>eradication of poverty and subsequently, the disease burden of the<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>poor? Do you think more structural changes are needed to address the<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>root cause, poverty, instead of what Farmer would argue is the system,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>polio?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Closser:\u00a0<\/strong>I think eradicating polio would be a very good thing, but it will not contribute to the eradication of poverty or the overall burden of disease. Yes, more structural changes are needed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Question: In terms of active anthropologists, you mention that<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>anthropologists can play a critical role as planners of health<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span><strong>initiatives and other programs. Do you see anthropologists ever<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>playing the role of advocate? activist? expert? legal witness?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Closser:<\/strong> All of the above, if appropriate. As I mentioned above, I really think that rigorous academic work has a very important place in the &#8216;real world.&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Svea Closser Svea Closser has focused her research in Pakistan for the past ten years. She has worked with Polio Eradication Initiative employees to examine why the initiative has yet to realize its goals and has developed insightful ideas as &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/gh-pp-career-biography\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1841,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/252"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1841"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252"}],"version-history":[{"count":72,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4362,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/252\/revisions\/4362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/contemporary-issues\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}