Abstract:
This paper engages with figurational theory to explore the relational nature of the development of health education from the 1960s to 1990s. Drawing on archival documents from NSW and Victorian State Libraries along with interviews with key people who shaped the field of health studies in the 70s and 80s, this paper will narrate some of the emerging findings about the nexus of how knowledge domains, professional identity, personalities and institutions have shaped the formation of health studies, particularly in NSW. The paper explores some of the symbiotic moves between public and private partnerships and curriculum and professional practice decisions and events. In doing so, the vagaries of history as an affective and emotional practice are brought into contrast with the conspicuous legacy that these past figurations have had on the present.