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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Armstrong, Melanie, 1977- author.

Series:

Critical environments. Nature, science, and politics.

Critical Environments: Nature, Science, and Politics ; 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biopolitics.

Bioterrorism--United States--Psychological aspects.

Bioterrorism.

Bioterrorism--United States--Prevention.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (301 pages).

Place of Publication:

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

Language Note:

In English.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

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.

Contents:

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

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 2017.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 20. Sep 2019)

ISBN:

9780520966147

0520966147

OCLC:

957414524