I am an anthropologist and human geographer with expertise in the social study of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) participating in a global network of researchers undertaking social science research to address AMR by studying antimicrobials in society (http://www.antimicrobialsinsociety.org/). As the role environments—particularly aquatic environments—play in the emergence and distribution of AMR is increasingly understood, I turn my attention to how changes in food production, rapid urbanisation, expanding healthcare facilities and poor institutional and material infrastructures for water and sanitation management open new pathways for AMR transmission between humans, non-human animals and the environment. I have recently joined the University of Helsinki’s sociology department as postdoctoral researcher for the international, multidisciplinary consortium Antimicrobial Resistance in West Africa (AMRIWA), a position that affords me the opportunity to pursue these interests by examining microbes in the social context of development in Burkina Faso and Benin. My research aspirations support the goals of a One Health approach. I have previous expertise in the anthropology of development, with field experience in the Indian Himalaya and Bangladesh. I am interested in multidisciplinary academic and non-academic collaborations that examine the ways in which a changing climate and environment (including AMR environments) are experienced, explained, and mediated by human populations. I focus upon two key perspectives: institutional and practical strategies for adaptation and management of the changes; how human populations perceive their relationship with the physical environment and non-human socialities. Whilst my primary site of research is South Asia, I am also interested in how such changes are experienced and dealt with in other global regions, including those closer to home.
The burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is unequally distributed across the globe. Low-incom... more The burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is unequally distributed across the globe. Low-income countries face a more severe AMR situation and have fewer means to solve the problem.
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via sub... more This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via subscription at: ebhr_cnrs@yahoo.fr
In Ladakh, north-west India, a popular narrative of the region’s inhabitants as spiritually and e... more In Ladakh, north-west India, a popular narrative of the region’s inhabitants as spiritually and ecologically enlightened combines with national sustainable and participatory development policies to produce a distinctive character that underpins the local administration’s development strategies. These strategies emphasise ‘traditional’ values of cooperation, simplicity, and ecological and spiritual harmony as the way to achieve culturally sustainable development and emotional well-being. However, obstacles to development appear when normative principles of sustainability and ecological wisdom encounter local cosmology, hierarchy and perceptions of expertise in society. In this article, I reflect upon my fieldwork and previous regional ethnographies to consider possible frameworks for evaluating well-being as an indicator of culturally sustainable development that include concepts of cosmology and expert protection.
This research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Fredrick Williamson ... more This research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Fredrick Williamson Memorial Fund. I would like to thank Togdan Rinpoche, Konchok Gyaltsen, Tashi Gyaltsen, Stanzin Shesal of Shachukul monastery, and the monks at Srongsten Library in Dehra Dun for offering their time and support in answering questions and translating interviews. I also wish to thank Thundup Namgyal for his assistance in helping me track down the correct respondents. Thanks also go to Dorje Wangchuk and Karma Namgyal for acting as translators during my interviews with Togdan Rinpoche.
The research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Fredrick Williamson M... more The research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Fredrick Williamson Memorial Fund. T
In August 2010 the Himalayan Region of Ladakh, Northwest India, experienced severe flash-flooding... more In August 2010 the Himalayan Region of Ladakh, Northwest India, experienced severe flash-flooding and mudslides, causing widespread death and destruction. The causes cited were climate change, karmic retribution, and the wrath of an agentive sentient landscape. Ladakhis construct, order and maintain the physical and moral universe through religious engagement with this landscape. The Buddhist monastic incumbents—the traditional mediators between the human world and the sentient landscape—explain supernatural retribution as the result of karmic demerit that requires ritual intervention. Social, economic, and material transformations have distorted the proper order, generating a physically and morally unfamiliar landscape. As a result, the mountain deities that act as guardians and protectors of the land below are confused and angry, sending destructive water to show their displeasure. Thus, the locally-contextualized response demonstrates the agency of the mountain gods in establishi...
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is often framed as a One Health issue, premised on the interdepend... more Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is often framed as a One Health issue, premised on the interdependence between human, animal and environmental health. Despite this framing, the focus across policymaking, implementation and the ethics of AMR remains anthropocentric in practice, with human health taking priority over the health of non-human animals and the environment, both of which mostly appear as secondary elements to be adjusted to minimise impact on human populations. This perpetuates cross-sectoral asymmetries whereby human health institutions have access to bigger budgets and technical support, limiting the ability of agricultural, animal health or environmental institutions to effectively implement policy initiatives. In this article, we review these asymmetries from an ethical perspective. Through a review and analysis of contemporary literature on the ethics of AMR, we demonstrate how the ethical challenges and tensions raised still emerge from an anthropocentric framing, and...
Without microbes, no other forms of life would be possible. But what does it mean to be with micr... more Without microbes, no other forms of life would be possible. But what does it mean to be with microbes? In this book, 24 contributors attune to microbes and describe their multiple relationships with humans and others. Ethnographic explorations with fermented foods, waste, faecal matter, immunity, antimicrobial resistance, phages, as well as indigenous and scientific understandings of microbes challenge ideas of them being simple entities: not just pathogenic foes, old friends or good fermentation minions, but much more. Following various entanglements, the book tells how these relations transform both humans and microbes in the process.
Without microbes, no other forms of life would be possible. But what does it mean to be with micr... more Without microbes, no other forms of life would be possible. But what does it mean to be with microbes? In this book, 24 contributors attune to microbes and describe their multiple relationships with humans and others. Ethnographic explorations with fermented foods, waste, faecal matter, immunity, antimicrobial resistance, phages, as well as indigenous and scientific understandings of microbes challenge ideas of them being simple entities: not just pathogenic foes, old friends or good fermentation minions, but much more. Following various entanglements, the book tells how these relations transform both humans and microbes in the process.
Global policy for managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is underpinned by a standardised and co... more Global policy for managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is underpinned by a standardised and coherent global framework for reducing antibiotic use in clinical health, veterinary health, and food production sectors. Within the framework, problematic antibiotic use (a significant driver of AMR) is treated as a knowledge deficit on the part of users and prescribers, which can be remedied by educating them to make better informed treatment decisions. This narrow approach to AMR management conceals the socioeconomic and material drivers of antibiotic decision-making, creating challenges for low resource regions that rely on antibiotic therapies to manage uncertainty and precarity. Thus, there is a need for a global AMR policy that acknowledges the diversity of sociomaterial arrangements and practices that antibiotics form part of, if their use is to be reduced without undermining productivity or the attainment of poverty reduction indicators. Drawing upon research of antibiotic use in ...
Humanities and Social Science Communications, 2021
Global policy for managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is underpinned by a standardised and co... more Global policy for managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is underpinned by a standardised and coherent global framework for reducing antibiotic use in clinical health, veterinary health, and food production sectors. Within the framework, problematic antibiotic use (a significant driver of AMR) is treated as a knowledge deficit on the part of users and prescribers, which can be remedied by educating them to make better informed treatment decisions. This narrow approach to AMR management conceals the socioeconomic and material drivers of antibiotic decision-making, creating challenges for low resource regions that rely on antibiotic therapies to manage uncertainty and precarity. Thus, there is a need for a global AMR policy that acknowledges the diversity of sociomaterial arrangements and practices that antibiotics form part of, if their use is to be reduced without undermining productivity or the attainment of poverty reduction indicators. Drawing upon research of antibiotic use in West Africa's livestock sector, this article analyses the interrelation of antibiotics, AMR action plans, and production management strategies in ecologies of livestock breeding practices. We apply the STS-influenced perspective of noncoherence to analyse how seemingly contradictory practices and institutional logics productively coalesce. We argue that observing noncoherent practices increases our understanding of antibiotic use in relation to local breeding conditions that are frequently not of the producers' making, whilst drawing attention to context-specific possibilities for improving livestock management capacities and reducing reliance on antibiotic therapies in low-resource settings. The article concludes by calling for an AMR global policy that is more responsive to local specificity rather than enforcing universal standardisation.
We humans are now an actor in the unfold ding story of climate's evolution, alongside the persona... more We humans are now an actor in the unfold ding story of climate's evolution, alongside the personal gods of the heavens and the impersonal dynamics of the oceans. (Mike Hulme 2010: 120)
In Ladakh, north-west India, a popular narrative of the region’s inhabitants as spiritually and e... more In Ladakh, north-west India, a popular narrative of the region’s inhabitants as spiritually and ecologically enlightened combines with national sustainable and participatory development policies to produce a distinctive character that underpins the local administration’s development strategies. These strategies emphasise ‘traditional’ values of cooperation, simplicity, ecological and spiritual harmony as the way to achieve culturally sustainable development and emotional wellbeing. However, obstacles to development appear when normative principles of sustainability and ecological wisdom encounter local cosmology, hierarchy, and perceptions of expertise in society. In this article I reflect upon my fieldwork and previous regional ethnographies to consider possible frameworks for evaluating wellbeing as an indicator of culturally sustainable development that include concepts of cosmology and expert protection.
The burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is unequally distributed across the globe. Low-incom... more The burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is unequally distributed across the globe. Low-income countries face a more severe AMR situation and have fewer means to solve the problem.
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via sub... more This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the publisher via subscription at: ebhr_cnrs@yahoo.fr
In Ladakh, north-west India, a popular narrative of the region’s inhabitants as spiritually and e... more In Ladakh, north-west India, a popular narrative of the region’s inhabitants as spiritually and ecologically enlightened combines with national sustainable and participatory development policies to produce a distinctive character that underpins the local administration’s development strategies. These strategies emphasise ‘traditional’ values of cooperation, simplicity, and ecological and spiritual harmony as the way to achieve culturally sustainable development and emotional well-being. However, obstacles to development appear when normative principles of sustainability and ecological wisdom encounter local cosmology, hierarchy and perceptions of expertise in society. In this article, I reflect upon my fieldwork and previous regional ethnographies to consider possible frameworks for evaluating well-being as an indicator of culturally sustainable development that include concepts of cosmology and expert protection.
This research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Fredrick Williamson ... more This research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Fredrick Williamson Memorial Fund. I would like to thank Togdan Rinpoche, Konchok Gyaltsen, Tashi Gyaltsen, Stanzin Shesal of Shachukul monastery, and the monks at Srongsten Library in Dehra Dun for offering their time and support in answering questions and translating interviews. I also wish to thank Thundup Namgyal for his assistance in helping me track down the correct respondents. Thanks also go to Dorje Wangchuk and Karma Namgyal for acting as translators during my interviews with Togdan Rinpoche.
The research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Fredrick Williamson M... more The research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Fredrick Williamson Memorial Fund. T
In August 2010 the Himalayan Region of Ladakh, Northwest India, experienced severe flash-flooding... more In August 2010 the Himalayan Region of Ladakh, Northwest India, experienced severe flash-flooding and mudslides, causing widespread death and destruction. The causes cited were climate change, karmic retribution, and the wrath of an agentive sentient landscape. Ladakhis construct, order and maintain the physical and moral universe through religious engagement with this landscape. The Buddhist monastic incumbents—the traditional mediators between the human world and the sentient landscape—explain supernatural retribution as the result of karmic demerit that requires ritual intervention. Social, economic, and material transformations have distorted the proper order, generating a physically and morally unfamiliar landscape. As a result, the mountain deities that act as guardians and protectors of the land below are confused and angry, sending destructive water to show their displeasure. Thus, the locally-contextualized response demonstrates the agency of the mountain gods in establishi...
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is often framed as a One Health issue, premised on the interdepend... more Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is often framed as a One Health issue, premised on the interdependence between human, animal and environmental health. Despite this framing, the focus across policymaking, implementation and the ethics of AMR remains anthropocentric in practice, with human health taking priority over the health of non-human animals and the environment, both of which mostly appear as secondary elements to be adjusted to minimise impact on human populations. This perpetuates cross-sectoral asymmetries whereby human health institutions have access to bigger budgets and technical support, limiting the ability of agricultural, animal health or environmental institutions to effectively implement policy initiatives. In this article, we review these asymmetries from an ethical perspective. Through a review and analysis of contemporary literature on the ethics of AMR, we demonstrate how the ethical challenges and tensions raised still emerge from an anthropocentric framing, and...
Without microbes, no other forms of life would be possible. But what does it mean to be with micr... more Without microbes, no other forms of life would be possible. But what does it mean to be with microbes? In this book, 24 contributors attune to microbes and describe their multiple relationships with humans and others. Ethnographic explorations with fermented foods, waste, faecal matter, immunity, antimicrobial resistance, phages, as well as indigenous and scientific understandings of microbes challenge ideas of them being simple entities: not just pathogenic foes, old friends or good fermentation minions, but much more. Following various entanglements, the book tells how these relations transform both humans and microbes in the process.
Without microbes, no other forms of life would be possible. But what does it mean to be with micr... more Without microbes, no other forms of life would be possible. But what does it mean to be with microbes? In this book, 24 contributors attune to microbes and describe their multiple relationships with humans and others. Ethnographic explorations with fermented foods, waste, faecal matter, immunity, antimicrobial resistance, phages, as well as indigenous and scientific understandings of microbes challenge ideas of them being simple entities: not just pathogenic foes, old friends or good fermentation minions, but much more. Following various entanglements, the book tells how these relations transform both humans and microbes in the process.
Global policy for managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is underpinned by a standardised and co... more Global policy for managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is underpinned by a standardised and coherent global framework for reducing antibiotic use in clinical health, veterinary health, and food production sectors. Within the framework, problematic antibiotic use (a significant driver of AMR) is treated as a knowledge deficit on the part of users and prescribers, which can be remedied by educating them to make better informed treatment decisions. This narrow approach to AMR management conceals the socioeconomic and material drivers of antibiotic decision-making, creating challenges for low resource regions that rely on antibiotic therapies to manage uncertainty and precarity. Thus, there is a need for a global AMR policy that acknowledges the diversity of sociomaterial arrangements and practices that antibiotics form part of, if their use is to be reduced without undermining productivity or the attainment of poverty reduction indicators. Drawing upon research of antibiotic use in ...
Humanities and Social Science Communications, 2021
Global policy for managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is underpinned by a standardised and co... more Global policy for managing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is underpinned by a standardised and coherent global framework for reducing antibiotic use in clinical health, veterinary health, and food production sectors. Within the framework, problematic antibiotic use (a significant driver of AMR) is treated as a knowledge deficit on the part of users and prescribers, which can be remedied by educating them to make better informed treatment decisions. This narrow approach to AMR management conceals the socioeconomic and material drivers of antibiotic decision-making, creating challenges for low resource regions that rely on antibiotic therapies to manage uncertainty and precarity. Thus, there is a need for a global AMR policy that acknowledges the diversity of sociomaterial arrangements and practices that antibiotics form part of, if their use is to be reduced without undermining productivity or the attainment of poverty reduction indicators. Drawing upon research of antibiotic use in West Africa's livestock sector, this article analyses the interrelation of antibiotics, AMR action plans, and production management strategies in ecologies of livestock breeding practices. We apply the STS-influenced perspective of noncoherence to analyse how seemingly contradictory practices and institutional logics productively coalesce. We argue that observing noncoherent practices increases our understanding of antibiotic use in relation to local breeding conditions that are frequently not of the producers' making, whilst drawing attention to context-specific possibilities for improving livestock management capacities and reducing reliance on antibiotic therapies in low-resource settings. The article concludes by calling for an AMR global policy that is more responsive to local specificity rather than enforcing universal standardisation.
We humans are now an actor in the unfold ding story of climate's evolution, alongside the persona... more We humans are now an actor in the unfold ding story of climate's evolution, alongside the personal gods of the heavens and the impersonal dynamics of the oceans. (Mike Hulme 2010: 120)
In Ladakh, north-west India, a popular narrative of the region’s inhabitants as spiritually and e... more In Ladakh, north-west India, a popular narrative of the region’s inhabitants as spiritually and ecologically enlightened combines with national sustainable and participatory development policies to produce a distinctive character that underpins the local administration’s development strategies. These strategies emphasise ‘traditional’ values of cooperation, simplicity, ecological and spiritual harmony as the way to achieve culturally sustainable development and emotional wellbeing. However, obstacles to development appear when normative principles of sustainability and ecological wisdom encounter local cosmology, hierarchy, and perceptions of expertise in society. In this article I reflect upon my fieldwork and previous regional ethnographies to consider possible frameworks for evaluating wellbeing as an indicator of culturally sustainable development that include concepts of cosmology and expert protection.
This is the list of contents and introduction to a special issue on Ladakh published by the Libra... more This is the list of contents and introduction to a special issue on Ladakh published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. The volume contains a total of 11 papers on broadly ‘Tibetological’ themes, including the region’s political and religious history, contemporary development and social issues, and Ladakhi understandings of colour. Most of the papers were presented at the 16th international conference of the International Association for Ladakh Studies (IALS) in Heidelberg in April 2013, together with two additional contributions from Rob Linrothe and Nawang Jinpa.
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