1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910156235103321

Autore

Armstrong Melanie <1977->

Titolo

Germ Wars : The Politics of Microbes and America's Landscape of Fear / / Melanie Armstrong

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berkeley, CA : , : University of California Press, , [2017]

©2017

ISBN

0-520-96614-7

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (301 pages)

Collana

Critical Environments: Nature, Science, and Politics ; ; 2

Disciplina

363.325/35610973

Soggetti

Biopolitics

Bioterrorism - United States - Psychological aspects

Bioterrorism - United States - Prevention

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Previously issued in print: 2017.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction. Political Ecologies of Bioterror -- 1. "Smallpox Is Dead". The Public Health Campaign to (Almost) Eradicate a Species -- 2. Microbes for War and Peace On the Military Origins of Containment -- 3. The Wild Microbiological West Fighting Ticks and Weighing Risks -- 4. Agents of Care. Bioterrorism Preparedness at the CDC -- 5. Simulation Science. Securing the Future -- 6. Bioterror Borderlands. Of Nature and Nation -- Conclusion. "Freaked Out Yet?" -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- Selected Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

The United States government has spent billions of dollars to prepare the nation for bioterrorism despite the extremely rare occurrence of biological attacks in modern American history. Germ Wars argues that bioterrorism has emerged as a prominent fear in the modern age, arising with the production of new forms of microbial nature and the changing practices of warfare. In the last century, revolutions in biological science have made visible a vast microscopic world, and in this same era we have watched the rise of a global war on terror.  Germ Wars demonstrates that these movements did not occur separately but are instead deeply entwined-new scientific knowledge of microbes makes possible new mechanisms of war. Whether to eliminate disease



or create weapons, the work to harness and control germs and the history of these endeavors provide an important opportunity for investigating how biological natures shape modern life. Germ Wars aims to convince students and scholars as well as policymakers and activists that the ways in which bioterrorism has been produced have consequences for how people live in this world of unspecifiable risks.