Escherichia coli,Corporate Discipline and the Failure of the Sewer State |
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Authors: | Elizabeth Dunn |
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Institution: | 1. Asia Research Institute and Department of Geography , National University of Singapore , Singapore geotgb@nus.edu.sg;3. Asia Research Institute , National University of Singapore , Singapore E-mail: arimam@nus.edu.sg |
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Abstract: | Recent panics over adulterated beef have led the US federal government to institute what it calls a ‘risk-based, science-based’ approach to food safety. Rather than having federal inspectors monitoring carcasses for microbial contamination, the USDA has implemented a system known as HACCP that asks firms to regulate their own production processes. HACCP is an incidence of audit, a new method of governmentality widely used by state agencies. This paper argues that although ‘sewer states’ try to create trust in government by eliminating contamination, audit-based systems paradoxically create anxiety by highlighting overflows of filth and ‘zones of wildness’ where contamination is rampant. |
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