The Life of a Pest : An Ethnography of Biological Invasion in Mexico / Emily Wanderer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wanderer, Emily, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Biopolitics--Mexico.

Biopolitics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 198 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2020]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

The Life of a Pest tracks the work practices of scientists in Mexico as they study flora and fauna at scales ranging from microscopic to ecosystemic. Amid concerns about climate change, infectious disease outbreaks, and biotechnology, scientists in Mexico have expanded the focus of biopolitics and biosecurity, looking beyond threats to human life to include threats to the animal, plant, and microbial worlds. Emily Wanderer outlines how concerns about biosecurity are leading scientists to identify populations and life-forms either as worthy of saving or as “pests” in need of elimination. Moving from high security labs where scientists study infectious diseases, to offices where ecologists regulate the use of genetically modified organisms, to remote islands where conservationists eradicate invasive species, Wanderer explores how scientific research informs, and is informed by, concepts of nation.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Living Better in Mexico

1. From Degenerates to Regeneration, Convicts to Conservation

2. The Care of the Pest and Animal Betrayals

3. Acclimatizing Biosecurity

4. Invisible Biologies, Embodied Environments

5. The Bureaucracy of Genetic Modification

Conclusion: Vivir Mejor and the Biodiverse Nation

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 02. Jun 2020)

ISBN:

9780520972537

0520972538

OCLC:

1120693087