Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Disaster in Agriculture, or Foot and Mouth Mobi...

Links

Text available via DOI:

View graph of relations

Disaster in Agriculture, or Foot and Mouth Mobilities.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/02/2006
<mark>Journal</mark>Environment and Planning A
Issue number2
Volume38
Number of pages13
Pages (from-to)227-239
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

This paper is an exploration of the dynamics of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom in 2001. Following Perrow’s analysis of the catastrophic breakdown of technological systems, the author treats the UK agricultural system as a set of flows that are both tightly coupled and complex. This suggests that the stability of the agricultural system is precarious, and that when it is disrupted (as it was with the arrival of the foot and mouth virus) the consequences may be large scale and catastrophic. The foot and mouth outbreak, and more generally, aspects of global agriculture, are thus understood as ‘normal accidents’.

Bibliographic note

RAE_import_type : Journal article RAE_uoa_type : Sociology