A00456 - Book of the Month for the Month of November 2025: Epidemic Orientalism: Race, Capital, and the Governance of Infectious Disease by Alexandre I. R. White; The Amherst Blood Line

 "..., the framers of the International Sanitary Conventions and the International Health Regulations of the present have been uniquely concerned with imposing and maintaining a particular system of relation on the world and maintaining that order in opposition to the threat of certain infectious diseases that may upset that order.  Unlike so many international agreements or regulations that emerged out of a post-World War II global order that reflected a new and different internationalism, one in many ways led by nations outside Europe and North America, the perspectives guiding the regulations themselves have remained remarkably durable in the face of a tumultuous twentieth century with a unique legacy rooted in an erathe  in which global relations were shaped by imperial actors but now exist in a postimperial geopolitical present." (Introduction, pgs.29-30)

"... in a quote from noted microbiologist and Nobel laureate Joshua Lederberg, despite his humanistic calls to not close ourselves off to human suffering, the specter of the distant microbe that felled a child coming to the shores of America haunts his vision of the future.  Once again the risk is not so much the disease in its place of origin but rather for the mixing of populations that comes through increased global relations and conviviality.  Without being explicit in its racial language as seen in the first two quotes, the invocation of wild lands, the mixing of populations, and the distinctions made between advanced countries and afflicted areas exposes a racial/ethnic schema of difference reflecting all too clearly that these diseases are not an endemic problem to the West but emerge from the spaces beyond.  Moreover, these discussions are not nationalistic in their scope but rather civilizational, regional, and hemispheric.  The problem of epidemics for Lederberg, the representative of Ceylon, and Adrien Proust are not problems for single nations to confront but all advanced nations and civilizations.  Epidemics represent the lingering risk at the center of global connectedness -- the microbe is not the problem, but rather its capacity to travel westward.  Lederberg also raises the teleological superiority of the West.  While sanitation and hygiene leave the Western world vulnerable, it is simultaneously the responsibility of the West, for its own sake, to raise up the rest of the world to the hygienic superiority of itself, for the sake of the herd."  (Introduction, pgs. 32-33.)

"Colonialism is therefore not only a mode of rule but a way of seeing and creating subjects for rule in other domains.  It is in effect an act of world making through which social relations are constructed for the purposes of domination." (Introduction, pg. 39.)

"What makes the actions of colonization so totalizing is the transformation in worldview that it brings about for those under its yoke.  Former uncolonized subjects suddenly are forced confront a system of power in which their own personhood operates in relation to the colonized, altering power dynamics and meaning structures in all aspects of life." (Introduction, pg. 45.)

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Intriguing!

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Class of 1975

November 20, 2025

Subject: Book of the Month for the Month of November 2025: Epidemic Orientalism: Race, Capital, and the Governance of Infectious Disease by Alexandre I. R. White; The Amherst Blood Line

"Epidemics reflect the political, social, and economic circumstances in which they emerge.  Within the responses to a seemingly natural event lie the lenses through which medical actors, public health officials, and political and economic authorities perceive and assess the threat of infectious disease.  Far before the events of this book, epidemics were blamed upon those most marginalized in society.  In response to the Black Death in the fourteenth century and in addition to a host of other anti-Semitic prejudices, many Jews were burned at the stake, expelled from European cities and forced to convert to Christianity."  (Preface, pg. ix)

"I want to thank my parents-in-law Wendy and Ron and my aunts, uncles, and cousins for being the people that I try to do this work for and strive to emulate.  I wish to especially thank my parents.  My father who taught me that thought, reading, and concern are all important aspects of human existence, and that care, kindness, and dignity are integral to it.  So much of this work was possible because of the many long conversations my mother and I shared about the themes, theories, and minutiae of this work.  This book owes everything to your presence and for being a continued source of guidance. Lastly, nothing about any of this, from my decision to pursue a PhD to the life we have to the book this s would have been possible without the love, companionship, and partnership of Erica Jawin.  From college to world travel through to COVID-19 isolation and working from home, we have done it all together, and this book is a small token dedicated to our dedication to one another." (Acknowledgements, pg. xviii.)

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Alexandre White, Class of 2010, is the son of Walter White, Class of 1976; the nephew of Adrienne White Faines, Class of 1982 and her husband, Larry Faines, Class of 1982; the cousin of Frederick Cliver, Class of 1986; the cousin of Nicholas Neisser, Class of 2014; the grandnephew of Frederick Allen Parker, Jr., Class of 1960; the great grandson of Frederick Allen Parker, Sr., Class of 1920; and the partner of Erica Jawin (Mount Holyoke, 2012).  The Amherst College blood line is strong in this family.  More about the book will follow.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

Class of 1975

November 12, 2025 

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: skipjen2865@aol.com <skipjen2865@aol.com>

To: Everett Jenkins <skipjen2865@aol.com>

Sent: Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 12:37:01 AM PDT

Subject: Book of the Month for the Month of November 2025: Epidemic Orientalism: Race, Capital, and the Governance of Infectious Disease by Alexandre I. R. White

This coming Thursday, November 6, I hope to be able to "facilitate" a Black Alumni Memorial Service.  The Service will be a virtual service and will begin at 7pm.  I am looking forward to this Memorial Service because I hope to briefly chat with Walter White, Class of 1976, and Cuthbert "Tuffy" Simpkins, Class of 1969.  In a preliminary chat with Walter, he mentioned that his son, Alexandre White, Class of 2010, had recently published a book that had received some acclaim.  After Walter educated me a bit about the significance of Alexandre's book, I looked it up and became intrigued.  I am so intrigued that I am making Alexandre's book Epidemic Orientalism: Race, Capital, and the Governance of Infectious Disease as my Book of the Month for the Month of November 2025.  

Hope to see some of you on Thursday.  Until then, enjoy the book.

Peace,

Everett "Skip" Jenkins

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Epidemic Orientalism: Race, Capital, and the Governance of Infectious Disease Paperback – January 24, 2023

by Alexandre I. R. White (Author)

5.0  5.0 out of 5 stars    (2)

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For many residents of Western nations, COVID-19 was the first time they experienced the effects of an uncontrolled epidemic. This is in part due to a series of little-known regulations that have aimed to protect the global north from epidemic threats for the last two centuries, starting with International Sanitary Conferences in 1851 and culminating in the present with the International Health Regulations, which organize epidemic responses through the World Health Organization. Unlike other equity-focused global health initiatives, their mission—to establish "the maximum protections from infectious disease with the minimum effect on trade and traffic"—has remained the same since their founding. Using this as his starting point, Alexandre White reveals the Western capitalist interests, racism and xenophobia, and political power plays underpinning the regulatory efforts that came out of the project to manage the international spread of infectious disease. He examines how these regulations are formatted; how their framers conceive of epidemic spread; and the types of bodies and spaces it is suggested that these regulations map onto. Proposing a modified reinterpretation of Edward Said's concept of orientalism, White invites us to consider "epidemic orientalism" as a framework within which to explore the imperial and colonial roots of modern epidemic disease control.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"White writes critically and necessarily on the historical actions taken to prevent the spread of infectious disease. With great care, he deftly unpacks the racial and economic costs of global health initiatives and examines the ideals behind their genesis. The book is a remarkable and necessary re-thinking of medical history through the lens of 'epidemic orientalism'."―Hollie Sherwood-Martin, The Lancet Infectious Diseases

"Over the course of his monograph, White successfully illustrates how an epidemic Orientalist worldview ultimately weakens epidemic responses and places the health of people on both sides of an imagined divide at a greater risk.... Historians and medical anthropologists and sociologists looking for a thoughtful synthesis of several intellectual frameworks for understanding medicine and empire will find Epidemic Orientalism a useful text."―Molly Walker, H-Sci-Med-Tech

"Backed by archival, historical, and interview data, White pulls off an intellectual feat that places him next to Edward Said['s Orientalism]....Highly recommended."―T. Niazi, CHOICE

"Alexandre White's brilliant book Epidemic Orientalism provides readers with essential context for understanding how social, political, and economic forces―including racism, xenophobia, and racial and colonial capitalism―animate modern epidemic disease control and pandemic governance. While White's analysis takes readers on a long historical tour through the architecture of international pandemic governance beginning in the nineteenth century, the themes that emerge from these earlier periods will be eerily familiar to contemporary readers grappling with Western governmental and international responses to the COVID-19 pandemic."―Courtney Boen, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

"Epidemic Orientalism stands out as a brilliant and timely intervention to not just ongoing discussions of epidemics, but also to the burgeoning studies of racism, racial capitalism, and (post-)colonialism from a global sociological perspective."―Sahan S. Karatasli, American Journal of Sociology

About the Author

Alexandre I. R. White is Assistant Professor of Sociology and the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He is Associate Director for JHU's Center for Medical Humanities and Social Medicine.