Biosecurity and globalising economic spaces

This chapter is concerned with the global regulation of animal health. Our case is a recent outbreak of avian influenza in South Africa’s ostrich industry. The analysis confirms an important theme in the emerging social sciences literature on biosecurity, i.e. the paradox of control methods that are rigid and inflexible, and diseases that are indeterminate. We also examine a second approach to the outbreak that relied on local experience and knowledge. Our chapter explores the complex ways in which globalizing economic spaces are integrated into new global regulatory regimes, with important implications for economic, social and geographical processes.