Doing Anthropocene History 3: The "Antibiocene" – Moving from antimicrobial to microbial stewardship
Join us for the third session of our online Doing Anthropocene History seminar series for 2025, with Claas Kirchhelle.
Time: Fri 2025-05-30 15.30 - 16.30
Location: Online. Register for link.
Participating: Claas Kirchhelle
Seminar
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major planetary health crisis and an important way in which microbes cope with accelerating anthropogenic stressors. However, for over a century, humans have reacted to AMR by trying to steward antimicrobials rather than microbiota. This presentation reviews the historical evolution of antimicrobial infrastructures in human and animal medicine, AMR science, and the numerous (un)intended consequences of trying to ‘fix’ existing modes of drug use since 1940. It highlights the entrenched neglect of the environmental domain by decision-makers and argues for a new era of eubiotic governance of the microbial commons.
Speaker
Claas Kirchhelle . "I am a historian of 'bugs and drugs'. Based at the CERMES3 Unit in Paris (associate research professor) and at UCD (Adjunct Professor), I am interested in everything related to the history of microbes, laboratory infrastructures, and the development, marketing, and regulation of antibiotics and vaccines."
Seminar series contact: Oscar Hartman Davies and Susanna Lidström