Biosecurity is the assessment and management of
potentially dangerous infectious diseases, quarantined
pests, invasive (alien) species, living modified
organisms, and biological weapons. It is a holistic
concept of direct relevance to the sustainability of
agriculture, food safety, and the protection of human
populations (including bio-terrorism), the environment,
and biodiversity. Biosecurity is a relatively new
concept that has become increasingly prevalent in
academic, policy and media circles, and needs a more
comprehensive and inter-disciplinary approach to take
into account mobility, globalisation and climate
change. In this introductory volume,
biosecurity is presented as a governance approach to a
set of concerns that span the protection of indigenous
biological organisms, agricultural systems and human
health, from invasive pests and diseases. It describes
the ways in which biosecurity is understood and
theorized in different subject disciplines, including
anthropology, political theory, ecology,
geography and environmental management. It examines
the different scientific and knowledge practices
connected to biosecurity governance, including legal
regimes, ecology, risk management and alternative
knowledges. The geopolitics of biosecurity is
considered in terms of health, biopolitics and trade
governance at the global scale. Finally, biosecurity as
an approach to actively secure the future is assessed in
the context of future risk and uncertainties, such as
globalization and climate change.
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