Posthumanist critique and human health: how nonhumans (could) figure in public health research

Abstract

This paper uses bibliometric analysis and critical discourse analysis to explore the rise in research involving nonhumans in public health, and the potential contribution of posthumanist social theory to this growing body of public health scholarship. There has been a sudden and rather marked increase in research and writing on animals, zoonoses and/or the 'One-health' paradigm within public health journals since 2006. Indeed 'One-health' rather than 'posthumanism' holds together research involving nonhumans of various kinds -from viruses to animals -within the discipline. Advocates of the 'One-health' paradigm argue that human and animal health must be integrated through joining the research, training and care practices of human and animal medicine. By mapping the terrain of public health research involving nonhuman species, we consider how and where posthumanist theory could be productively drawn upon to contribute to both critical and applied research involving nonhumans within public health. We specifically ask how the posthumanist insight to 'follow the nonhumans' would raise new questions and analytics for this research area.

From more‐than‐human solidarity to multi‐species biographical value: insights from a veterinary school about ethical dilemmas in One Health promotion

“…). Economics may be the most prominent social science in One Health today, through cost‐benefit and cost‐effectiveness evaluations (Friese and Nuyts , Zinsstag et al . ).…”

“…To date, One Health proponents and researchers have tended to focus their attention on infections that can cross species barriers, also known as zoonoses (Friese and Nuyts ). In 2013, for example, Sociology of Health & Illness published a special issue that focused on pandemics and emerging infectious diseases, which tend to involve non‐human animals (Dingwall et al .…”

“…‘More‐than‐human solidarity’ takes place whenever human efforts to care for each other extend to caring for non‐human animals, or whenever humans take practical steps to care for non‐human animals (Rock and Degeling ). Conceptually, more‐than‐human solidarity aligns with posthumanist approaches to health promotion (Cohn and Lynch , , Friese and Nuyts , Rock , Rock , Rock and Degeling , Rock and Degeling , Rock et al . , ).…”

Humans, Other Animals and ‘One Health’ in the Early Twenty-First Century

“…Perhaps the most striking finding is that the most frequently mentioned animal in the scientific literature on 83 Galaz et al (2015), Cassidy (2016). See also Friese and Nuyts (2017). 84 Manlove et al (2016).…”

Posthuman perspectives: relevance for a global public health

“…Will proposes that such reframing draws attention to inequalities and to the entangled relationships between humans and non-humans. This overview is further developed in Friese and Nuyts (2017) analysis of the growth of public health research involving non-humans. Paying particular attention to writing on animals the authors identify a place to extend debate further, and identify the One Health movement as a partial precursor to posthuman approaches; partial because, although it sees population health as a combination of human and animal health, it does not go far enough.…”