Globalizing Risks - The Cosmo-Politics of Sars and its Impact on Globalizing Sociology

Dados Bibliográficos

ID5774426
AutoresMichael Schillmeier (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, autor correspondente)
Ano2008
Volume3
Fascículo2
Páginas179-199
Data de publicação2008-06-21
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoMobilities (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1745-0101 • E-ISSN: 1745-011X
EditoraRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17450100802095288
OpenAlexW2068516532
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas16
Referências citadas38

The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China 2003 endangered individual lives and disrupted societal organization on a trans-continental level. SARS was rapidly spreading along the international routes of air traffic and therefore was not only treated as a trans-regionally spread disease but was feared it would become a pandemic threat, i.e. a global epidemic. Drawing on empirical material, the Canadian experience is given special relevance to highlight the global impact of the cosmo-politics of SARS that directly related local, regional, national and global risk practices, which dramatically reassembled the relations of nature/culture, local/global, private/public etc. The paper also discusses the relevant impact of SARS on a globalizing sociology. Keywords: SARSriskcosmo-politicstranslationcosmo-political event Notes 1. For a topological reading of the social relevance of SARS as a global risk see Schillmeier & Pohler (Citation2006). 2. On 'emerging viruses' see, for example, Morse (1993). 3. For an excellent reading of 'becoming' as an epidemic process see Deleuze & Guattari (Citation1987). See also Grosz (Citation1999). 4. Next to primary data, relevant secondary literature was also accessed. Qualitative interviews with German virologists were conducted and analyzed by my colleague Wiebke Pohler. I am grateful to her for discussing her material. 5. On 'risks and mobilities' see John Urry (Citation2004). 6. Putting 'SARS' in quotation marks indicates that it still wasn't known as SARS, but was treated as an atypical form of pneumonia. 7. The Hong Kong case was linked to one person, a so-called 'super-spreader'. It is still unclear why this person 'super-spread' the virus. 'As of April 15, 2003, there were a total of 321 cases of SARS in the estate. A concentration of cases was recorded in block E, accounting for 41% of the cumulative total. Block C (15%), block B (13%) and block D (13%) recorded the second, third and fourth highest incidence of SARS infections. The other cases (18%) were scattered in 11 other blocks. Most of the initial 107 patients from Block E lived in flats that were vertically arranged. All residents were subsequently moved to Lei Yue Mun and MacLehose Holiday Camps for isolation. In the mid-2003, the authority concerned found that there were serious problems with water pipes which may have contributed to the spread of SARS.' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoy_Gardens 8. The verb 'to contract' refers to both meanings I try to highlight: to bind, to arrange heterogeneous entities into a new lasting entity and to catch, to develop a disease. 9. In the capital, Beijing, more than a million school children were forced to stay at home. Government officials organized classes on television and the Internet. 10. On the notion of translation, the most interesting approaches are those linked to Actor-Network-Theory, cf. for example Callon (Citation1986), Berg & Mol (Citation1998), Hetherington & Munro (Citation1997), Latour (Citation2005), Law (Citation1991,Citation1994, Citation2002), Law & Hassard (Citation1999); Law & Mol (Citation2002), Lee & Munro (Citation2001), Mol (Citation2002), Schillmeier (Citation2007), Schillmeier & Pohler (Citation2006). 11. On April 12, 2003, the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre in British Columbia/CA mapped the genome of the SARS-associated corona virus. Corona viruses are well known for inducing flu-like symptoms but also for their ability to change. 12. SARS networks were not entirely new. They benefited from the existence and experiences of, for example, a developed Influenza-network. 13. For an excellent discussion on collectivity see Callon & Law (Citation1997). 14. People infected with SARS do not necessarily have to show any or the same symptoms. 15. On practices of 'cutting the network' see Strathern (Citation1996

Environmental sociology · Risk society · Employment and Welfare Studies · Global Security and Public Health · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact