Bound by Proximity: Polio Vaccination Refusal and the Discovery of the Dutch Bible Belt

This article examines historical polio outbreaks in three Dutch towns (1963, 1966, 1971) to show how vaccination refusal became an expression of and contribution to local solidarity shaped by religion, place, and tradition. In doing so, it demonstrates how medical history contributes to ongoing conversations in medical humanities about vaccination refusal. I argue that refusal was neither simply resistance nor misunderstanding but a deliberate act that reaffirmed local community boundaries. Drawing on archival research, I explore how public health interventions and national media scrutiny made previously unnoticed communities visible, fostering their collective self-awareness and sense of distinctiveness. Following Anna Tsing, I describe the productive yet uneasy interaction between national public health practices and local ways of living as an example of “friction.” Historical analysis reveals how friction during vaccination campaigns brought these communities into public view, highlighting tensions between collective responsibility for public health and respect for traditional, place-specific ways of living. By emphasizing the spatial dimensions of refusal, I suggest that effective public health interventions may benefit from greater sensitivity to local cultural contexts.