{"product_id":"the-pandemic-perhaps-carlo-caduff-9780520284098","title":"The Pandemic Perhaps: Dramatic Events in a Public Culture of Danger","description":"In 2005, American experts sent out urgent warnings throughout the country: a devastating flu pandemic was fast approaching. Influenza was a serious disease, not a seasonal nuisance; it could kill millions of people. If urgent steps were not taken immediately, the pandemic could shut down the economy and \"trigger a reaction that will change the world overnight.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Pandemic Perhaps\u003c\/i\u003e explores how American experts framed a catastrophe that never occurred. The urgent threat that was presented to the public produced a profound sense of insecurity, prompting a systematic effort to prepare the population for the coming plague. But when that plague did not arrive, the race to avert it carried on. Paradoxically, it was the absence of disease that made preparedness a permanent project. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Pandemic Perhaps\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of what happened when nothing really happened. Drawing on fieldwork among scientists and public health professionals in New York City, the book is an investigation of how actors and institutions produced a scene of extreme expectation through the circulation of dramatic plague visions. It argues that experts deployed these visions to draw attention to the possibility of a pandemic, frame the disease as a catastrophic event, and make it meaningful to the nation. Today, when we talk about pandemic influenza, we must always say \"perhaps.\" What, then, does it mean to engage a disease in the modality of the maybe? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Carlo Caduff\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0520284097\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780520284098\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of California Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/11\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 270\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2016","brand":"Carlo Caduff","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43919953658111,"sku":"9780520284098","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_185d50e8-6fa2-43c1-812f-f9d07e976f96.jpg?v=1680812828","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-pandemic-perhaps-carlo-caduff-9780520284098","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}