The Life of a Pest

An Ethnography of Biological Invasion in Mexico
1. Auflage 2020
ISBN: 978-0-520-30264-8
Verlag: University of California Press

Buch, Englisch, 212 Seiten, Trade Paperback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 408 g

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Wanderer, Emily

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Regionalgeographie
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Ethnographie
• Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Ethnologie Umwelt und Kultur, Kulturökologie
• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Biogeographie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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

Über Autor(innen)

Emily Wanderer is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh.