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Dedication
To my mother, Esther de Waal, who taught me how to think
NEW PANDEMICS, OLD POLITICS
Two Hundred Years of War on Disease and its Alternatives
Alex de Waal
polity
Copyright © Alex de Waal 2021
The right of Alex de Waal to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2021 by Polity Press
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All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-4781-4
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: De Waal, Alex, author.
Title: New pandemics, old politics : two hundred years of war on disease and its alternatives / Alex de Waal.
Description: Medford : Polity Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A brilliant account of the politics behind modern pandemics by a leading expert on humanitarian crisis and infectious disease”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020052814 (print) | LCCN 2020052815 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509547791 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509547807 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509547814 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Epidemics--Political aspects. | Epidemiology--Political aspects.
Classification: LCC RA649 .D49 2021 (print) | LCC RA649 (ebook) | DDC 614.4--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020052814 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020052815
The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher has no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content is or will remain appropriate.
Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition.
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Acknowledgements
This book began life as a compilation of reflections provisionally entitled ‘Critical Thinking in a Pandemic’, which became an essay in the 3 April 2020 online issue of Boston Review, entitled ‘New Pathogen, Old Politics’ (http://bostonreview.net/science-nature/alex-de-waal-new-patho-gen-old-politics). The Boston Review editors, Deb Chasman and Matt Lord, were indulgent, encouraging, and usefully critical. I have drawn on comments and critique from colleagues, students, and former students, including Lisa Avery, Bridget Conley, Sarah Detzner, Ella Duncan, Sulmaan Khan, Jared Miller, Aditya Sarkar, and Ben Spatz, as well as Louise Knight and Inès Boxman at Polity Press and anonymous reviewers.
1 Following the Science, Following the Script
A pandemic pathogen is scary and strange. It is new to medical science and society and it is everywhere. At the critical early moment of a pandemic, much of the advice of doctors and epidemiologists will be vague and some will be wrong. Those who know their subject best will have the deepest uncertainties. No expert can say when and how the pandemic will end. There isn’t even an agreed definition of ‘pandemic’ – an arcane but revealing absence.
