The pandemic perhaps book review final draft - Sebastian Rojas Navarro.docx

Caduff, C. The Pandemics Perhaps. Dramatic Events in a Public Culture of Danger. Oakland, California: University of California Press. 2015. 296pp £44.95 (hbk) £19.95 (pbk) £18.95 (ebk) ISBN 978-0520284081

In current times, when the threat and fear linked with the expansion of Zika virus becomes more widespread, Carlo Caduff's book 'The Pandemics Perhaps: Dramatic Events in a Public Culture of Danger' seems to acquire an even stronger sense of relevance. As the Introduction of the book narrates, experts and officials predicted in 2005 that a deadly influenza pandemic could storm the United States. These predictions made by experts working in the fields of epidemiology, public health and microbiology led the general audience and governmental organizations to believe that a pandemic disaster was unavoidable. Thousands if not millions could be killed, and the landscape of everyday normal life could be deeply disrupted as the consequence of a pandemic that was bound to happen. Although there was no certainty in relation to when it was meant to occur, the expectations were that it will happen. And that it will take place rather sooner than later. An apocalyptic vision of the future emerged from this, which, combined with a neoliberal ideology present in the United States, required from everyone to become ready to face the worse.
And this is exactly the main argument that the book examines. The book is not so much about pandemics themselves as it is about the fear that something might happen, and about the prophetic culture that arises from medical experts predicting outbreaks of disease. The book explores how the sensation of inevitability produced by claims rooted in medical knowledge found their way in shaping public opinion, developing into a culture of danger, and in a sensation of constant public fear for a disease to come. A key theme that derives from this is the exploration of how different experts, and different fields of expertise within the institution of medicine compete in order to become influential. The public profile of science becomes a core element to understand how medical experts can become prophets of things to come in a global theatre, where infectious diseases move from one stage to another. And where past histories of previous pandemics serve as a reminder of the potential consequences to face if things go wrong.
A particularly elegantly achieved argument by Caduff, which is also core to the argument of the book, has to do with the depiction of what he refers to as a 'prophetic culture' (p. 20). In a society where medical experts are highly influential, their prophecies of things to come can produce all kinds of answers. The fear related to the pandemic that is supposed to arrive manifests itself in multiple and different attempts from people trying to get ready for its arrival. But it never happens. However, it is in the prophetic culture itself where this acquires meaning. The fact that the catastrophic pandemic has not happened yet does not mean that it will not take place in the near or distant future. True or false cease to be helpful categories to measure the usefulness of the predictions made by the experts, and all that is left to do is to get ready, whatever that could mean.
The author narrates the stories of individuals and institutions getting ready for the imminent disaster. From the US military, to the Centres for Disease Control, and the mass media, the book constantly transmits a sense of urgency, including the necessity of being prepared, and the fear of what will happen when the disease finally arrives. All of this is illustrated with beautiful and incisive images which reflect how the threat is perceived by mass media and others, helping fear to become widespread among the American people.
Throughout the book, the author tracks down influenza from its identification in the laboratory, to it becoming a well-known, respected and feared disease. During this transition, different voices wrestle in relation to what is the best way to reflect and understand the potential consequences of the disease, how it should be addressed, and how it became a matter of political, financial and social concern.
The book accomplishes what it states it is about. It is important to highlight that although there are many overlaps with literature in Science and Technology Studies, Pandemic Perhaps reveals an ethnographic sensibility that reminds readers of the work of Stefan Helmreich and Frederic Keck. Summarizing, it is a recommended read not only for those interested in pandemics, but to a larger audience, particularly those interested in how fear, danger and uncertainty frame our way of inhabiting the world.