Fences and Biosecurity: The Politics of Governing Unruly Nature

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Metadata
Title	Fences and Biosecurity
Subtitle	The Politics of Governing Unruly Nature
Contributor	Annika Pohl Harrisson(editor)
Contributor	Michael Eilenberg(editor)
DOI	https://doi.org/10.33134/HUP-30
License	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Publisher	Helsinki University Press
Publication place	Helsinki
Published on	2025-03-26
ISBN	978-952-369-124-7 (Paperback)
	978-952-369-125-4 (PDF)
	978-952-369-126-1 (EPUB)
Short abstract	<i style="">Fences and Biosecurity</i> examines the role of fencing as a mechanism of control, exclusion, and power in the name of biosecurity. This volume brings together case studies that provide unique insights into the social, environmental, and political dynamics of fencing in European and North American contexts. Individually and collectively, the contributions reveal how the interplay between biosecurity discourses and fencing practices – both literal and symbolic – shapes present and future realities for humans and non-humans alike, triggering larger debates about risk politics. In essence, the volume reveals how fencing practices forge social and political landscapes, reinforcing boundaries while enabling the circulation of capital. More than physical barriers, biosecurity fences function as symbols and instruments of governance, raising urgent questions about risk, security, and exclusion in an interconnected world.
Long abstract	<p><i>Fences and Biosecurity</i> explores the role of fencing as a mechanism of control, exclusion, and power in the name of biosecurity. While biosecurity is broadly understood as the set of measures taken to prevent the introduction and spread of harmful organisms – thereby protecting humans, animals, and plants – this volume critically examines how fencing has become a key tool in these efforts. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the chapters reveal the ways in which fences, both physical and symbolic, shape social, political, and ecological landscapes.</p> <p>This volume brings together scholars from different regions to investigate the ways in which biosecurity fencing is deployed across different contexts in Europe and North America. As fencing practices increase in scope and intensity, it becomes imperative to assess their effects – both intended and unintended – on human and non-human life. More than passive structures, fences actively participate in the governance of space, reinforcing borders, and regulating mobility. They embody biosecurity concerns, turning abstract discourses into tangible barriers that impact everyday life. Yet, fences are not merely practical tools; they also serve as powerful symbols of fear, control, and exclusion. While they may provide protection, they also create division, evoking a range of intellectual and emotional reactions and raising questions about their long-term implications.</p> <p><i>Fences and Biosecurity</i> highlights how fencing, as a manifestation of biosecurity anxieties, is not only about managing biological threats but also about organizing the world into hierarchies of value. By delineating spatial boundaries, fences impose distinctions between what is considered safe and what is framed as dangerous or invasive. This separation of differently valued species and biological matter is not neutral; rather, it is deeply entangled with political imaginaries, economic interests, and global trade dynamics. Fences facilitate the circulation of capital while simultaneously restricting the movement of certain species and populations, making them instruments of governance rather than mere physical barriers. While fences physically separate spaces, they also reshape cultural understandings of risk, security, and belonging. By shifting the focus from biosecurity as an abstract policy concern to fencing as a material and discursive practice, this volume reveals the ways in which security measures are enacted on the ground.</p> <p><b>Annika Pohl Harrisson</b> is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern Denmark. </p><p><b> Michael Eilenberg</b> is an associate professor of anthropology at Aarhus University.</p>
Print length	331 pages
Language	English (Original)
Keywords	Biosecurity Fencing Borders Human- animal conflicts Wildlife management Governance (or biopolitics)

Contents

Where Fencing and Biosecurity Interlock: The Politics of Managing and Anticipating Risk

Annika Pohl Harrisson
Michael Eilenberg

A Fence in Time: Chrono-Material Ecologies of Decay, Governance and Knowledge

Ludek Broz
Annika Pohl Harrisson

Veterinary Fencing in Eastern Germany: The More-Than-Human Borderlands of African Swine Fever

Larissa Fleischmann

Wildlife Fencing as Resistance from Below: A Case from the Slovenian Borderland

Miha Kozorog

The Boar Next Door: Vigilant Fencing in Suburban Berlin

Annika Pohl Harrisson
Amalie R. Bladt Jespersen

Anticipatory Vectors: The Politics and Poetics of Non-Domesticated Pigs in Denmark and Texas

Michael Eilenberg
Jason Cons

Selective Fencing at Denmark’s Biological, Politico-Geographical and Genomic ‘Borders’

Mette N. Svendsen

Fence and Fencibility: Using Technology to Direct Wildlife

Erica von Essen
Manisha Bhardwaj

Aesthetic Fencing: Reflections on Securing Life from Chicago’s Bubbly Creek

Alex Blanchette

Afterword: Controlling Relations

Sarah Green

Contributors

Annika Pohl Harrisson

(editor)

Department of Political Science at University of Southern Denmark

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7624-2135

Annika Pohl Harrisson is a social anthropologist interested in state–society relations, borders, environmental politics and human–nature–animal connections. She completed her PhD in 2019 at Aarhus University, where she studied state-making and justice provision in Myanmar. Annika is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Border Region Studies at the University of Southern Denmark, researching the role of borders in the green transition.

Michael Eilenberg

(editor)

Anthropology at Aarhus University

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0051-7424

Michael Eilenberg is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Aarhus University. His research focuses on issues of state formation, sovereignty and agrarian expansion in frontier regions of South East Asia, Europe and North America. He is the author of At the Edges of States (KITLV Press/Brill Academic Publishers, 2012) and co-editor with Jason Cons of Frontier Assemblages: The Emergent Politics of Resource Frontiers in Asia (Wiley, 2019) and with Mona Chettri of Development Zones in Asian Borderlands (Amsterdam University Press, 2021).