Human Extinction and the Pandemic Imaginary

The book examines the role of pandemic catastrophe in the renegotiation of what it means to be human, arguing that fear and fascination with the 'next pandemic stem from an expectation of the loss of mastery over human/non-human relations. It challenges us to think how cosmological, aesthetic, ontological, and political aspects of pandemic catastrophe are intertwined.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 178 pages
Publication date: 01 April 2021
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Human extinction as a result of the 'next pandemic' is examined and critiqued in this book, which also examines the role of pandemic catastrophe in the renegotiation of what it means to be human. The book argues that fear of and fascination with the 'next pandemic' stem not so much from an anticipation of a biological extinction of the human species, but from an expectation of the loss of mastery over human/non-human relations. Christos Lynteris employs the notion of the 'pandemic imaginary' to understand the way in which pandemic-borne human extinction refashions our understanding of humanity and its place in the world. The book challenges us to think how cosmological, aesthetic, ontological, and political aspects of pandemic catastrophe are intertwined. The chapters examine the vital entanglement of epidemiological studies, popular culture, modes of scientific visualisation, and pandemic preparedness campaigns. This volume will be relevant for scholars and advanced students of anthropology as well as global health, and for many others interested in catastrophe, the 'end of the world', and the (post)apocalyptic.

Weight: 300g
Dimension: 154 x 232 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367776886