Dear Colleague,
This past month has seen some fantastic social research on AMR being presented across the globe. Here we highlight an array of panels, including some from the recent Association of Social Anthropologists (ASA) conference and the 4S Conference in New Orleans. We also take a forward look to the many upcoming events as the academic year flies into full swing!
Prof. Helen Lambert’s
ASA panel included seven papers, representing research from Bangladesh, China, India, and Spain, with questions posed about ‘post-normal’ science, what it means to be ‘mircobially entangled’, and a reconceptualization of the ‘anthropology of knowledge’.
Nicolas Fortane and
Henry Buller’s panel at 4S was an ambitious look at AMR and farming, they sought “to bring new understanding to the social, technical and economic structures of agri-food production and distribution systems that integrate, and have integrated, antimicrobials as key elements in the processes of livestock farming or, on occasion, have sought to encourage their reduction".
Salla Sariola and Jose A. Cañada’s panel focused on
“New Social Forms of the Post-Antibiotic Era: More-than- Human Hybrids, Governance and Knowledge of Human- Microbe Relations”. The papers explored modes of living with microbes, via attention to “new social forms that enable peaceful coexistence with microbes…instead of a war against microbes…Societies are rethinking relationships between humans, animals, and environment in radically new ways…by building immunity through fermentation or enhancement of gut microbiota; development of vaccines, phage therapy or novel antibiotics; and promotion of sustainable food production”. In their novel fermentation workshop, they curated a “creative journey into micro organic intelligence”. You can read more about the workshop and their work more broadly
here.
Claas’ Kirchhelle’s talk in Upsalla, entitled ‘Pyrrhic Progress - a global history of antibiotics in food production (1938-2018)’, addressed “the historical roots of modern antibiotic infrastructures, the economic, political, and cultural reasons behind the fragmentation of international antibiotic stewardship, and the role of historical path dependencies in structuring current policy interventions.”. The full seminar can be accessed
here. Claas’ book will be out soon too – ask your libraries to
pre-order!
Here are some links to some newly published pieces on AMR in the social sciences:
Andrea Whittaker et al:
‘Investigating Understandings of Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Resistance in Diverse Ethnic Communities in Australia: Findings from a Qualitative Study' in
Antibiotics.
Paul Mason
et al: ‘
The technological imperative in tuberculosis care and prevention in Vietnam’ in
Global Public Health.
Jane Mingjie Lim
et al:
‘Impact of national interventions to promote responsible antibiotic use: a systematic review’ in the
Journal of Antimicrobial Therapy.
Laurie Denyer Willis and Clare Chandler: ‘
Quick fix for care, productivity, hygiene and inequality: Reframing the entrenched problem of antibiotic overuse’ in the BMJ: Global Health.
Ayako Ebata:
How talking could help tackle antimicrobial resistance on the website, One Health Poultry Hub.
There are many upcoming events, opportunities, conferences and talks we would also like to draw your attention to:
- Engaging Critical Social Science in Public Health and Medicine in West Africa, Benin, contact Cultures of Culture for more information:
https://blogs.helsinki.fi/culturesofcultures/
- Social Theory and AMR Workshop at Durham University. For more information see:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/social-theory-and-amr-tickets-74103901765
- Upcoming Symposium: Ethnographics and statistics of global traveling practices, multiple borders, infectious diseases at Maastricht University. Find details here:
https://www.caphri.nl/symposium-ethnographics-and-statistics-global-traveling-practices-multiple-borders-infectious
And one more thing: We’ll be hiring a new AMIS researcher in the coming months, so please watch this space!
As ever, we look forward to hearing more about your ongoing social research on AMR. Please do continue to share any updates or upcoming events or writing you’d like us to share in our network.
Best,
Clare and Laurie