SARS Reception and Interpretations in Three Chinese Cities

Multidisciplinary in its approach, SARS explores the medical, social, and political challenges posed by the epidemic. Focusing on the political dimensions of historical geography, media communications, and popular culture, the case studies chronicle how residents of the three cities, whose fortunes are linked by uneasy historical memories and a vibrant global economy, find themselves abruptly drawing hard lines against porous borders. The volume raises issues pertaining to global politics and regional security, public health and democratic processes, civil society and public culture formation, the role of media in social crises, institutional integrity, and individual agency. Contributors drawn from anthropology, journalism, medicine, and sociology examine the SARS outbreak as representative of the multiple contradictions among contagion, connectivity, and disjuncture that characterize our contemporary world. With avian flu looming over the horizon, the volume focuses attention on diverse human responses, critical self-reflection, and possible steps to meet future challenges.