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The immune home

Abstract:

This chapter uses the example of mosquito repellents to reconsider the domestic orientation of global health immuno-logics. Spatial repellency, a volumetric mode of chemical action, seeks to reduce disease transmission by creating atmospheres inimical to mosquitoes and other insect vectors of disease. Unlike insecticides, which are expected to kill on contact, spatial repellency works by creating transitory chemical envelopes that keep potential biological threats at bay. Drawing inspiration from work by Tanzanian colleagues on new repellent products for malaria prevention, we explore the implications of untethering protection from the affordances of a physically enclosed domestic space. In Tanzania’s Kilombero Valley, this untethering forces a reexamination of the contained, finished house as the conventional unit of global health action, drawing attention instead to modes of house-ing that encompass the spatial and temporal inbetweens of everyday life.

Publication status:
Accepted
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

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Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
SSD
Department:
SAME
Role:
Author
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
SSD
Department:
SAME
Oxford college:
Kellogg College
Role:
Author
ORCID:
0000-0002-5483-3628

Contributors

Role:
Editor
Role:
Editor


Publisher:
Duke University Press
Host title:
Homeplaces: The Quest for Dwelling in Critical Times
Acceptance date:
2025-04-14


Language:
English
Pubs id:
2124042
Local pid:
pubs:2124042
Deposit date:
2025-05-15

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