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- Convenors:
-
Alena Kamenshchikova
(Maastricht University)
Andrea Butcher (University of Helsinki)
Catherine Will (University of Sussex)
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- Format:
- Traditional Open Panel
Short Abstract:
The movements of humans and non-humans across the world become seen as risky or desirable depending on what, who, how and when is crossing the borders. This panel engages with these diverse mobilities and reflects upon the complex intersections of health, security and care in a mobile world.
Long Abstract:
We live in an interconnected world with continuous movements by humans and non-humans across boundaries of bodies, settlements, ecologies and states. Connectivity and separation, transmission and control span national and international discussions on health emergencies, border security, migration, capitalism, and global health. Transmission and mobility of microbes is seen as undesirable when it has the potential to cause infection, while movements of "microbial containers" such as labour within a single market economy, or commercial movement of food products or antimicrobials in global trade can be seen as economically desirable. In other words, the scope and consequences of movements radically differs depending on what, who, how and when is doing the crossing.
Scholarship in STS has explored the intersections of epidemics, surveillance, governance, and policy, highlighting the contentions and co-creation of practices around security and care. Research has also pointed to the racialised and marginalising assumptions that draw problematic parallels between microbes and risky bodies, species, and sites. At the same time, international guidelines seek to read across borders, and create another singular and often standardised world.
In this panel, we invite scholars to reflect on the implications and translations of these connections in different realms of human and animal health as they are situated in various fields of regulation, economy and science. We invite contributions reflecting upon topics such as, but not limited to
(1) The research, technologies and policies at the complex intersections of health, security, risk and care in the context of the mobile world;
(2) The existing practices and case studies of inter- and transdisciplinarity that analyse movements across borders, disciplines and species;
(3) The productive ways to reimagine dichotomies of the interconnected yet bordered world to meaningfully engage with global mobilities and policy regimes built around them.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Rachel Zicheng Yang (The University of Sydney)
Short abstract:
Despite constrained communication, hindered by a hierarchical reporting system, Hong Kong scientists significantly contributed to SARS research. This study unveils cross-border research networks beyond governmental structures, illuminating the role of legacy and trust in outbreak collaborations.
Long abstract:
South China, an influenza reservoir and the origin of significant outbreaks like SARS and COVID-19, has had a global impact extending beyond political boundaries. Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China since 1997, possesses a unique medical legacy shaped by its British past. The influx of medical officials during colonial rule fostered the growth of medical knowledge and disease ecology, resulting in world-class medical facilities by the handover in 1997. On the other hand, Hong Kong’s geographical proximity to South China, especially its neighbouring province Guangdong, has exposed it to infectious diseases while also fostering cross-border collaborations and contributions to medical knowledge, notably in tropical medicine.
This distinctive context makes Hong Kong an ideal research site to explore the cross-border spread of microbes and collaborations. Focusing on the SARS outbreak, this paper examines how Hong Kong managed the crisis, emphasizing cross-border communication and collaboration with Guangdong. Despite the proximity, Hong Kong experienced delays in learning about the SARS outbreak from Guangdong, revealing the shortcomings in mainland China’s hierarchical reporting system. However, despite the delay and the lack of direct communication between provinces, Hong Kong’s scientists made significant contributions to SARS research. This paper thus aims to unveil how scientists’ cross-border networks extend beyond governmental structures between Hong Kong and the mainland. Ultimately, this study seeks to illuminate the convergence of state policies, regional authorities, and scientists’ networks in outbreak responses.
Fan-Tzu Tseng (Academia Sinica)
Short abstract:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan enforced strict border control to curb the virus, with 1.9 million quarantine cases by 2022. This study shows that Taiwanese returnees' adherence to regulations, driven by concern for national success in disease control, is a performance of affective citizenship.
Long abstract:
From 2020 to 2022, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic swept across the globe, serving as a critical juncture in the management of global health crises. Originating from Wuhan, China, and facing substantial cross-strait traffic, Taiwan promptly implemented rigorous border control and home quarantine measures. These measures were in place until October 13, 2022, during which nearly 1.9 million quarantine cases were documented on the island, home to around 23 million people. The swift and decisive adoption of quarantine protocols played a key role in curtailing widespread community transmission in Taiwan.
Quarantine, while effective for public health, sparked debate over the balance between collective safety and individual liberties in a globally connected society. This raises the question of how democracies can secure public compliance for efficient risk management. Drawing on in-depth interviews, the study examines the quarantine experiences of nationals returning to Taiwan amid the pandemic, who were subjected to stricter surveillance and restrictions due to being perceived as the most likely threats to the island's pursuit of remaining COVID-free. The findings reveal that these citizens were not merely passive subjects under state control but actively engaged in strategies to mitigate risks. Their adherence was driven less by a rational calculation of infection risks and more by anxiety over the virus's unpredictability and thus the potential to jeopardize Taiwan's commendable success in controlling the disease, a point of national pride. This sense of responsibility led them to commit to quarantine guidelines, which can be considered a performance of affective citizenship.
Yu-Ju Chien (National Taiwan University)
Short abstract:
How Taiwanese organic farmers combat invasive fall armyworms without pesticides. They adopt diverse control strategies, such as utilizing natural predators, bacteria, and manual removal tailored to their crops and environment.
Long abstract:
This article discusses how organic farmers in Taiwan are addressing the challenge of fall armyworms, an invasive species that poses a threat to crops. Originating from Central America, fall armyworms have spread to over 80 countries, including Taiwan, since 2019, causing significant damage to various crops. While insecticides are the most effective control method, organic farmers, unable to use pesticides, have developed alternative, eco-friendly measures. These measures include employing natural predators, such as beneficial insects, applying Bacillus thuringiensis (BT), a bacteria that targets the pest, and manually removing egg clusters. Different farmers adopt methods based on their crops and environment.
The study utilized participant observation, in-depth interviews, and fieldwork across farms to understand farmers' responses to fall armyworm infestations. It found that organic farmers, facing restrictions on pesticide use, have innovated diverse control strategies. Despite the establishment of a government-run surveillance network and the development of control strategies, the mobility and rapid reproduction of fall armyworms pose challenges, especially for organic farmers. As fall armyworms become more naturalized, Taiwanese farmers, both organic and conventional, are gradually accepting their presence. Overall, this study sheds light on the complex interactions between humans, non-human species, technologies, and nature in combating the spread of invasive species like fall armyworms. It highlights the need for continued research and innovation to develop effective, environmentally friendly solutions to mitigate the impact of these pests on agriculture.
Andrea Butcher (University of Helsinki)
Short abstract:
This paper considers the use of maps in Antimicrobial Resistance research. Drawing upon multidisciplinary fieldwork from Benin and Bangladesh, I reflect upon previous mapping exercises, and ask how an STS sensibility can be utilised to produce socially representative, ethically responsible AMR maps.
Long abstract:
Mapping is a key method for communicating antimicrobial resistance prevalence and abundance globally. Maps are deployed either as diagrams of the spatial distribution and/or concentration of resistance genes (e.g. Hendriksen et al. 2019), or as systems maps that plot factors influencing resistance evolution and interactions between them (e.g. Matthiessen et al. 2022). Plotted from the results of microbiological and molecular analysis, such maps are invaluable sources for drawing attention to the pervasiveness of the AMR problem. However, achieving such statistical scalability requires what anthropologist Anna Tsing (2014) calls the removal of “nuisance” social relations that threaten the standardisation upon which scale relies. In the process of enacting a mapping exercise space and place are decontextualised of the social and material relations that produce them, and defined instead as risk “hotspots”, requiring intervention to prevent global AMR mobility. Nevertheless, as Tsing’s scalability critique cautions, such social and material relations remain in situ, and their technoscientific erasure or denial risks leaving vulnerable geographies and economies open to accusations of causality and responsibility for situations over which they have little control.
This paper considers the history and use of mapping in AMR research. Drawing upon multidisciplinary fieldwork from Benin and Bangladesh, I reflect upon the possibility that collaborative mapping exercises with research participants will more effectively plot biosocial relations of AMR production and the determinants of microbial mobility - and ask how an STS sensibility can be utilised to produce more socially representative and ethically responsible AMR maps.
Catherine Will (University of Sussex)
Short abstract:
Mycoplasma genitalium has become a modern concern, thanks to the availability of genetic tests, not licensed in all countries. Yet, the bacteria is now resistant and we explore their articulation with the history of gonorrhoea and chlamydia, developing a theory of geographical microbiology.
Long abstract:
Mycoplasma genitalium reproduces slowly so traditional cultures take at least six weeks. Modern concern about the bacteria has largely followed availability of genetic tests, which are still not licensed in many countries. This paper explores the articulation of these bacteria with the history of Neisseria gonorrhoea and Chlamydia trachoma exploring cross-national comparisons including research and guidelines in Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom (UK), and Europe more broadly, showing how these proceed according to the particular regions in which bacteria have been treated, and the different ways in which they responded. It is also worth noting that Mycoplasma genitalium, gonorrhoea and chlamydia often appear together, meaning treatment of one may affect both treatment and resistance of other bacteria. This means there is an intrinsic link between the ‘histories’ of the different bacteria, and the ways in which treatment for one may affect or reduce the effectiveness of treatment for another. This is one of the few cases of an organism being discovered to be resistant when no treatment was being applied to it, and where convenient disciplinary treatment affected different rates of resistance at the global level. Here we look at the incommensurability between different environments, social and cultural situations and the bacteria in particular groups across the world, drawing attention to ways in which to accept that these things are different and highlight that in the particular studies and guidelines that are enacted.