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Landscapes of Disease

Michelle E Ziegler

Published 2016 in Landscapes

ABSTRACT

In their book An Unnatural History of Emerging Infections, anthropologists Ronald Barrett and George Armelagos argue that settlement, sustenance and social order are the driving forces of disease emergence. They grounded their work in physical, cultural and political landscapes throughout human history. Epidemics are a product of landscapes sculpted by humans to fit our intentions, if not always optimally our needs, are therefore are not entirely ‘natural’ (Barrett and Armelagos 2013, 110). Considering an epidemic, even one as great as the Black Death, as an unmitigated natural disaster ignores all of the very human pathways it travelled and the landscapes that made it welcome. Labelling an epidemic as a natural disaster also absolves human society of responsibility for its mitigation or its future prevention. Studying ‘Landscapes of Disease’ epitomises the type of research on reactions to adversity and resilience called for by the European Science Foundation in Landscape in a Changing World: Bridging Divides, Integrating Disciplines, Serving Society in 2010. To understand the challenges that climate and landscape change pose to human health in our modern world, we must study the landscapes of disease over the longue durée.

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