Biosecurity: Towards an anthropology of the contemporary

The open question

“…To complement Emma's observations about openness, I would note that as well as sharing we also increasingly warn our children about security, which along with health remains one of the great inflationary values of this era (Collier et al 2004). …”

Dealing with highly contagious animal diseases under neoliberal governmentality in Mongolia

“…Adopting the radical measure of culling combined with partial and random vaccination in crisis situations, the latest solution adopted by the current Mongolian government leads to daily and extensive surveillance by herders who act as sentinels, veterinarians who act as transmitters of information, and NGOs who act as mediators of surveillance (Ruhlmann 2015b). 6 In this new form of public health care, the government mobilizes collective action and distributes roles among different actors at different scales, to implement a global security system called 'biosecurity' (Collier, Lakoff, and Rabinow 2004;Fallon et al 2012). Applied to different threats (natural disasters, terrorism, pandemics), this system aims at preventing pathogens from crossing species boundaries, an alarming phenomenon that has preoccupied the World Health Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health since the panzootic of avian influenza in 2005.…”

Mobile Life: Biosecurity Practices and Insect Globalization

“…The handling of public health crises such as HIV/AIDS, avian influenza, SARS, foot and mouth disease, and the anthrax scare are being taken as indicative that hazards associated with biological life are taking shape as some of the preeminent `security' 13 issues of our era (Collier et al, 2004;Dillon, 2007;Hinchliffe and Bingham, 2008a;2008b;Fidler and Gostin, 2008).…”