Speech | Sentinels, whistleblowers and diplomats: Techniques of preparedness for avian influenza pandemics

*Moderator: Paul Jobin (Associate Research Fellow, Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica)
*Opening Remarks: Professor Wen-Ling Tu (Dean of the International College of Innovation, National Chengchi University)
*Organizers: International College of Innovation, EASTS Journal, Bureau Français de Taipei

*Introduction: This lecture is organized on the occasion of the course “Gaiapolitics, ecology and war,” featuring Professor Frédéric Keck from the CNRS (France), the author of the book Avian Reservoirs: Virus Hunters and Birdwatchers in Chenese Sentinel Posts. Based on his ethnographic work on techniques of preparedness for avian influenza pandemics in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, Professor Keck proposes the concepts of “sentinels” and “sentinel devices,” to illustrate how non-human actors participate in the global war against emerging viruses, and also how “virus hunters” take the perspectives of animals, thus investing in contemporary relations between humans, animals and plants a mode of thought that has been studied by anthropologists among hunter-gatherer societies.
*The lecture will be held in English. Boxed meal will be provided at the end of the event.