The third session of the AMIS panel series, chaired by Professor Clare Chandler, looks at how we might consider antibiotics beyond humans. Professor Steve Hinchliffe, Dr Claas Kirchhelle, Dr Salla Sariolla and Rijul Kochhar draw on their research conducted in Bangladesh, India, West Africa, Georgia and the UK to reflect upon food production and attend to the microbiopolitics of therapy, including the potential ‘techno scientific salvation’ offered by phage.
Their accounts of aquaculture, livestock and poultry farming in different settings describe entanglements of economic margins, time pressures, climate unpredictability, sanitation systems, veterinary advice, supply chains and the regulatory environment. Against this complex backdrop – sometimes comprising of a ‘stacking of lacks’ – narrowly focussed, short-term stewardship interventions can have limited and/or unintended impacts on antibiotic use.
The panellists reflect upon techniques of food production intensification, and the value and organising work of diagnostics. The expertise of those caring for animals is illustrated, and its dismissal in diagnosing animal ill-health is questioned. Attending to devices and the ways that they arrange the world around them is proposed as a fruitful line of inquiry that decentres not only humans but also the concept of behaviour. Another proposed avenue by which to better understand antibiotics use is for social researchers to attend to supply chains and the roles of multinational corporations in food production.
Essential Reading
Commentary
Addressing Antibiotic Use Report Launch & Roundtable Event
On the 24th of February, delegates from around the world joined Professor Clare Chandler online as she launched our collaborative...
PINTAR Study: Protecting Indonesia from the threat of...
Community pharmacies, drug stores, and antibiotic resistance in Indonesia Pharmacies and other private drug sellers are the first point of...
ROADMAP Project: Thinking transitions in agri-food systems towards...
Nicolas Fortané and Amandine Gautier Thinking transitions in agri-food systems – towards a ‘prudent’ use of antibiotics The use of...
Panel 3: Antibiotics beyond humans: Ecologies, production, flows