Avian Influenza. An Anthropological Perspective on a Contemporary Crisis

  • Funded by Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
  • Total publications:0 publications

Grant number: 114599

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Key facts

  • Disease

    Pandemic-prone influenza
  • Start & end year

    2006
    2007
  • Known Financial Commitments (USD)

    $62,782.5
  • Funder

    Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
  • Principal Investigator

    Carlo Caduff
  • Research Location

    Switzerland
  • Lead Research Institution

    Deparment of Anthropology University of California, Berkeley
  • Research Priority Alignment

    N/A
  • Research Category

    13

  • Research Subcategory

    N/A

  • Special Interest Tags

    N/A

  • Study Type

    Non-Clinical

  • Clinical Trial Details

    N/A

  • Broad Policy Alignment

    Pending

  • Age Group

    Unspecified

  • Vulnerable Population

    Unspecified

  • Occupations of Interest

    Unspecified

Abstract

In recent years, avian influenza has gradually emerged as a topic of journalistic attention, political urgency, public anxiety, medical concern, and scientific challenge. A broadening range of policy-makers, public health officials, and scientific experts have turned their attention to the troubling prospect of an avian influenza pandemic posing unprecedented problems for the protection of life on a national and international scale. Today, the H5N1 avian influenza virus is considered in many domains of expertise a major challenge to both national security and public health.Given contemporary developments, there is a need and an opportunity for critical engagement with avian influenza as both a political and biological problem. The existing literature on avian influenza is predominantly journalistic and policy-oriented, or it is technical literature in the biological and medical sciences. In this context, my project proposes to develop a conceptually innovative and empirically grounded anthropological inquiry into the scientific, technical, political, and ethical dimensions of avian influenza. Keywords infectious diseases; avian influenza; risk; danger; precaution; preparedness; rationality Hauptdisziplin Ethnologie