Lowe, Celia. “Infection.” Environmental Humanities 5, no. 1 (2014): 301–5. doi:10.1215/22011919-3615559.
Infection is an invasion; a breaching of boundaries. Infection is an event; a becoming with. Infection is a “fluctuation” in the present order of things. Infection takes place in the urinary tract, the blood, the lung, and the computer. It also takes place in the industrial hen house, the pharmaceutical corporation, in the forest converted to palm oil, and in the hollowed out aftermath of structural adjustment policies. Viruses, bacteria, prions, nematodes, arthropods, and macroparasites cause infection. So does a good joke. Faeces, spit, sex, hospitals (by iatrogenesis), and keyboards spread infection. Infections are occult, pandemic, zoonotic, and sapronotic. Infections colonize, and are opportunistic, chronic, and pathogenic. Infections are wild, and of our own making. Situated responses to infection include quarantine, preparedness, witchcraft accusation, and chicken soup. (Text from author)
© Celia Lowe 2014. Environmental Humanities is available online only and is published under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).