Abigail Woods
Biographic Data
| ID | 5166822 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Abigail Woods |
| GIVEN NAMES | Abigail |
| FAMILY NAME | Woods |
| SIGNATURE | WOODS A |
| AFFILIATIONS | King's College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5580-9104 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 101 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 17 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The Real Agricultural Revolution
To publish a book titled The Real Agricultural Revolution at a time when scientists and policy makers are declaring the world to be on the cusp of a fourth agricultural revolution, might appear deliberately provocative. After all, historians are still debating the nature and existence of the first three agricultural revolutions and interrogating commentators’ motivations for declaring any event to be “revolutionary.” However, the authors of this …
Writing the History of Endemic Viral Disease
In Western countries during the post-World War II decades, endemic viral diseases were increasingly important to health. Such diseases have attracted limited historical attention. Due to changing methods of livestock production, they were particularly prevalent on the farm. This article uses a case study of the cattle disease, bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD), to demonstrate their historical significance. Spanning North America, the UK and Australia,…
Animals in the history of human and veterinary medicine
This chapter reviews what is known about their shared histories. It focuses on nineteenth and twentieth-century Western Europe and North America, discusses three animal roles that feature repeatedly in histories of human and veterinary medicine: as experimental material, transmitters of disease to humans, and victims of disease. The chapter demonstrates, there is an extensive body of literature that addresses the history of animals in human and v…
Introduction to “Working Across Species”
Comparison between different animal species is omnipresent in the history of science and medicine but rarely subject to focussed historical analysis. The articles in the "Working Across Species" topical collection address this deficit by looking directly at the practical and epistemic work of cross-species comparison. Drawn from papers presented at a Wellcome-Trust-funded workshop in 2016, these papers investigate various ways that comparison has…
From One Medicine to Two
This article offers a novel perspective on the evolving identities and relationships of human medicine and veterinary medicine in England during the decades that followed the 1791 foundation of the London Veterinary College. Contrary to the impressions conveyed by both medical and veterinary historians, it reveals that veterinary medicine, as initially defined, taught and studied at the college, was not a domain apart from human medicine but rath…
Animal roles and traces in the history of medicine, c. 1880–1980
This paper argues for the need to create a more animal-centred history of medicine, in which animals are considered not simply as the backdrop for human history, but as medical subjects important in and of themselves. Drawing on the tools and approaches of animal and human–animal studies, it seeks to demonstrate, via four short historical vignettes, how investigations into the ways that animals shaped and were shaped by medicine enables us to rea…
From Practical Men to Scientific Experts
INTRODUCTIONUsing veterinary surgeons as a case study, this paper aims to develop a new perspective on scientific expertise within late nineteenth and early twentienth century British government. The importance of such expertise - which was defined, by the 1880s, as special skill or knowledge,' is widely recognised by historians. First appointed as inspectors under reforming mid-nineteenth century legislation in public health, animal health, fish…
Is Prevention Better than Cure? The Rise and Fall of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, c.1950-1980
Little is known, historically, about the perceived and actual importance of disease prevention within general medical and veterinary practice, its constituent attitudes, practices and politics,and its relationship to disease cure. This paper addresses these issues through a study of veterinary preventive medicine. It focuses on the post-war attempts by leading British vets to reorient veterinary practice around a more preventive approach to lives…
The limits of narrative
This paper aims to (re)ignite debate about the role of narrative in the medical humanities. It begins with a critical review of the ways in which narrative has been mobilised by humanities and social science scholars to understand the experience of health and illness. I highlight seven dangers or blind spots in the dominant medical humanities approach to narrative, including the frequently unexamined assumption that all human beings are 'naturall…
From cruelty to welfare
Rethinking the History of Modern Agriculture
This article uses a study of pig production in Britain, c.1910-65, to rethink the history of modern agriculture and its implications for human-animal relationships. Drawing on literature written by and for pig producers and experts, it challenges existing portrayals of a unidirectional, post-Second World War shift from traditional small-scale mixed farming to large, specialized, intensive systems. Rather, 'factory-style' pig production was alread…
Partnership’ in Action
The farm as clinic
Industrializing Organisms
Reviewed by: Industrializing Organisms: Introducing Evolutionary History Abigail Woods (bio) Industrializing Organisms: Introducing Evolutionary History. Edited by Susan Schrepfer and Philip Scranton. London and New York: Routledge, 2003. Pp. ix+275. $90/$24.95. This fascinating volume derives from the 2002 conference of the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, itself inspired by a scholarly online discussion of the question "are animals techn…
Why slaughter? The cultural dimensions of Britain's foot and mouth disease control policy, 1892?2001
The Construction of an Animal Plague
British agricultural officials, veterinarians, and livestock owners currently regard foot and mouth disease (FMD) as one of the world’s worst animal plagues, a highly contagious and extremely costly disease that is only amenable to control by wide‐ranging and stringent legislative measures. However, for many years after its first appearance in 1839, commentators dismissed FMD as a mild and unpreventable ailment, and the introduction and extension…
Flames and fear on the farms
For over a century, the British government has pursued a policy of national freedom from foot and mouth disease (F.M.D.), a highly contagious disease of cloven-footed animals. One of the cornerstones of this policy was the slaughter of infected animals. However, on several occasions - most notably in 2001 - slaughter struggled to contain F.M.D., and provoked widespread criticism and calls for policy change. Drawing upon a range of previously unex…
The limits of narrative
This paper aims to (re)ignite debate about the role of narrative in the medical humanities. It begins with a critical review of the ways in which narrative has been mobilised by humanities and social science scholars to understand the experience of health and illness. I highlight seven dangers or blind spots in the dominant medical humanities approach to narrative, including the frequently unexamined assumption that all human beings are 'naturall…
Rethinking the History of Modern Agriculture
This article uses a study of pig production in Britain, c.1910-65, to rethink the history of modern agriculture and its implications for human-animal relationships. Drawing on literature written by and for pig producers and experts, it challenges existing portrayals of a unidirectional, post-Second World War shift from traditional small-scale mixed farming to large, specialized, intensive systems. Rather, 'factory-style' pig production was alread…
The farm as clinic
From cruelty to welfare
The Construction of an Animal Plague
British agricultural officials, veterinarians, and livestock owners currently regard foot and mouth disease (FMD) as one of the world’s worst animal plagues, a highly contagious and extremely costly disease that is only amenable to control by wide‐ranging and stringent legislative measures. However, for many years after its first appearance in 1839, commentators dismissed FMD as a mild and unpreventable ailment, and the introduction and extension…
Why slaughter? The cultural dimensions of Britain's foot and mouth disease control policy, 1892?2001
Is Prevention Better than Cure? The Rise and Fall of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, c.1950-1980
Little is known, historically, about the perceived and actual importance of disease prevention within general medical and veterinary practice, its constituent attitudes, practices and politics,and its relationship to disease cure. This paper addresses these issues through a study of veterinary preventive medicine. It focuses on the post-war attempts by leading British vets to reorient veterinary practice around a more preventive approach to lives…
Introduction to “Working Across Species”
Comparison between different animal species is omnipresent in the history of science and medicine but rarely subject to focussed historical analysis. The articles in the "Working Across Species" topical collection address this deficit by looking directly at the practical and epistemic work of cross-species comparison. Drawn from papers presented at a Wellcome-Trust-funded workshop in 2016, these papers investigate various ways that comparison has…
Animal roles and traces in the history of medicine, c. 1880–1980
This paper argues for the need to create a more animal-centred history of medicine, in which animals are considered not simply as the backdrop for human history, but as medical subjects important in and of themselves. Drawing on the tools and approaches of animal and human–animal studies, it seeks to demonstrate, via four short historical vignettes, how investigations into the ways that animals shaped and were shaped by medicine enables us to rea…
From Practical Men to Scientific Experts
INTRODUCTIONUsing veterinary surgeons as a case study, this paper aims to develop a new perspective on scientific expertise within late nineteenth and early twentienth century British government. The importance of such expertise - which was defined, by the 1880s, as special skill or knowledge,' is widely recognised by historians. First appointed as inspectors under reforming mid-nineteenth century legislation in public health, animal health, fish…
Partnership’ in Action
Flames and fear on the farms
For over a century, the British government has pursued a policy of national freedom from foot and mouth disease (F.M.D.), a highly contagious disease of cloven-footed animals. One of the cornerstones of this policy was the slaughter of infected animals. However, on several occasions - most notably in 2001 - slaughter struggled to contain F.M.D., and provoked widespread criticism and calls for policy change. Drawing upon a range of previously unex…
Why slaughter? The cultural dimensions of Britain's foot and mouth disease control policy, 1892?2001
The Construction of an Animal Plague
British agricultural officials, veterinarians, and livestock owners currently regard foot and mouth disease (FMD) as one of the world’s worst animal plagues, a highly contagious and extremely costly disease that is only amenable to control by wide‐ranging and stringent legislative measures. However, for many years after its first appearance in 1839, commentators dismissed FMD as a mild and unpreventable ailment, and the introduction and extension…
Flames and fear on the farms
For over a century, the British government has pursued a policy of national freedom from foot and mouth disease (F.M.D.), a highly contagious disease of cloven-footed animals. One of the cornerstones of this policy was the slaughter of infected animals. However, on several occasions - most notably in 2001 - slaughter struggled to contain F.M.D., and provoked widespread criticism and calls for policy change. Drawing upon a range of previously unex…
Industrializing Organisms
Reviewed by: Industrializing Organisms: Introducing Evolutionary History Abigail Woods (bio) Industrializing Organisms: Introducing Evolutionary History. Edited by Susan Schrepfer and Philip Scranton. London and New York: Routledge, 2003. Pp. ix+275. $90/$24.95. This fascinating volume derives from the 2002 conference of the Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, itself inspired by a scholarly online discussion of the question "are animals techn…
The farm as clinic
Partnership’ in Action
The limits of narrative
This paper aims to (re)ignite debate about the role of narrative in the medical humanities. It begins with a critical review of the ways in which narrative has been mobilised by humanities and social science scholars to understand the experience of health and illness. I highlight seven dangers or blind spots in the dominant medical humanities approach to narrative, including the frequently unexamined assumption that all human beings are 'naturall…
From cruelty to welfare
Rethinking the History of Modern Agriculture
This article uses a study of pig production in Britain, c.1910-65, to rethink the history of modern agriculture and its implications for human-animal relationships. Drawing on literature written by and for pig producers and experts, it challenges existing portrayals of a unidirectional, post-Second World War shift from traditional small-scale mixed farming to large, specialized, intensive systems. Rather, 'factory-style' pig production was alread…
Is Prevention Better than Cure? The Rise and Fall of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, c.1950-1980
Little is known, historically, about the perceived and actual importance of disease prevention within general medical and veterinary practice, its constituent attitudes, practices and politics,and its relationship to disease cure. This paper addresses these issues through a study of veterinary preventive medicine. It focuses on the post-war attempts by leading British vets to reorient veterinary practice around a more preventive approach to lives…
From Practical Men to Scientific Experts
INTRODUCTIONUsing veterinary surgeons as a case study, this paper aims to develop a new perspective on scientific expertise within late nineteenth and early twentienth century British government. The importance of such expertise - which was defined, by the 1880s, as special skill or knowledge,' is widely recognised by historians. First appointed as inspectors under reforming mid-nineteenth century legislation in public health, animal health, fish…
From One Medicine to Two
This article offers a novel perspective on the evolving identities and relationships of human medicine and veterinary medicine in England during the decades that followed the 1791 foundation of the London Veterinary College. Contrary to the impressions conveyed by both medical and veterinary historians, it reveals that veterinary medicine, as initially defined, taught and studied at the college, was not a domain apart from human medicine but rath…
Animal roles and traces in the history of medicine, c. 1880–1980
This paper argues for the need to create a more animal-centred history of medicine, in which animals are considered not simply as the backdrop for human history, but as medical subjects important in and of themselves. Drawing on the tools and approaches of animal and human–animal studies, it seeks to demonstrate, via four short historical vignettes, how investigations into the ways that animals shaped and were shaped by medicine enables us to rea…
Animals in the history of human and veterinary medicine
This chapter reviews what is known about their shared histories. It focuses on nineteenth and twentieth-century Western Europe and North America, discusses three animal roles that feature repeatedly in histories of human and veterinary medicine: as experimental material, transmitters of disease to humans, and victims of disease. The chapter demonstrates, there is an extensive body of literature that addresses the history of animals in human and v…
Introduction to “Working Across Species”
Comparison between different animal species is omnipresent in the history of science and medicine but rarely subject to focussed historical analysis. The articles in the "Working Across Species" topical collection address this deficit by looking directly at the practical and epistemic work of cross-species comparison. Drawn from papers presented at a Wellcome-Trust-funded workshop in 2016, these papers investigate various ways that comparison has…
Writing the History of Endemic Viral Disease
In Western countries during the post-World War II decades, endemic viral diseases were increasingly important to health. Such diseases have attracted limited historical attention. Due to changing methods of livestock production, they were particularly prevalent on the farm. This article uses a case study of the cattle disease, bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD), to demonstrate their historical significance. Spanning North America, the UK and Australia,…
The Real Agricultural Revolution
To publish a book titled The Real Agricultural Revolution at a time when scientists and policy makers are declaring the world to be on the cusp of a fourth agricultural revolution, might appear deliberately provocative. After all, historians are still debating the nature and existence of the first three agricultural revolutions and interrogating commentators’ motivations for declaring any event to be “revolutionary.” However, the authors of this …
Medicine (10 works) · Political science (10 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Veterinary medicine (7 works) · Agriculture (5 works) · Disease (5 works) · History (5 works) · Law (5 works) · Pathology (5 works) · Animal Disease Management and Epidemiology (4 works)