Pathological Lives: Disease, Space and Biopolitics delves into the complex interplay between pandemics, epidemics, and foodborne diseases as significant global challenges. Focusing on the critical food and farming sector, this book mobilizes social theory alongside empirical research to explore current biosecurity measures. It investigates how pathological lives can be regulated effectively without compromising public safety or making life more perilous. The author, Steve Hinchliffe, presents a 40-month research project entitled ‘Biosecurity borderlands’ as a foundational resource for this work.

The book’s analysis is characterized by its geographical and spatial perspective, integrating social, material, and biological approaches while drawing from national and international examples. It makes three significant conceptual contributions: reconceptualizing disease as situated matters, conducting a spatial or topological analysis of situations, and reformulating biopolitics. By uniquely merging these elements with empirically and politically informed work on infectious and zoonotic diseases, the book offers a timely and important contribution to both social science and policy debate.