Reproductive Politics,Biopolitics and Auto-immunity: From Foucault to Esposito

The contingent cultural, epistemological and ontological status of biology is highlighted by changes in attitudes towards reproductive politics in the history of feminist movements. Consider, for example, the American, British, and numerous European instances of feminist sympathy for eugenics at the turn of the century. This amounted to a specific formation of the role, in late nineteenth and early twentieth century feminisms, of concepts of biological risk and defence, which were transformed into the justificatory language of rights claims. In this context, one can ask how reproductive politics are to be fitted into the paradoxical relationship between biopolitics and thanatopolitics discussed by Michel Foucault and more recently by Roberto Esposito. In this context, “reproductive life,” can be thought of arising at the intersection of thanapolitics and biopolitics as these relate to women’s bodies. Revisiting Foucault and Esposito in the light of reproductive politics also allows a reconsideration of the paradoxical feminist aims involved in defending individual rights by reference to overall biopolitical interest and futurity.     

Bioethics and Biopolitics: Presents and Futures of Reproduction

This Bioethics and Biopolitics: Presents and Futures of Reproduction symposium draws together a series of articles that were each submitted independently by their authors to the JBI and which explore the biopower axis in the externalization of reproduction in four contexts: artificial gestation (ectogenesis), PGD for sex selection, women’s (reproductive) rights, and testicular cryopreservation (TCCP). While one contribution explores a “future” of reproduction, the other three explore a “present,” or better, explore different “presents.” What may counts as “present,” and what may count as “future,” has dramatically different connotations depending on the geographical declination of the tense.     

Remaking a World: Violence, Social Suffering, and Recovery

Remaking. World: Violence, Social Suffering, and Recovery. Veena Das. Arthur Kleinman. Margaret Lock. Mamphela Ramphele. and Pamela Reynolds. eds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. viii. 294 pp.     

Remaking a World: Violence, Social Suffering, and Recovery

Remaking. World: Violence, Social Suffering, and Recovery. Veena Das. Arthur Kleinman. Margaret Lock. Mamphele Ramphele. and Pamela Reynolds. eds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. 294 pp.     

Prairie Dogs: An Ecological Review and Current Biopolitics

ABSTRACT In recent years, people have interpreted scientific information about the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) in various, and sometimes conflicting, ways. Political complexity around the relationship among black-tailed prairie dogs, agricultural interests, and wildlife has increased in recent years, particularly when prairie dogs occur on publicly owned lands leased to private entities for livestock grazing. Some have proposed that estimates of prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) numbers from 1900 are inflated, that prairie dog grazing is not unique (other grazers have similar affects on vegetation), and that prairie dogs significantly reduce carrying capacity for livestock and wildlife. We address all these issues but concentrate on the degree of competition between prairie dogs and ungulates because this motivates most prairie dog control actions. We conclude that the available information does not justify holding distribution and numbers of prairie dogs at a level that is too low to perform their keystone ecological function. We further conclude that it is especially important that prairie dogs be sufficiently abundant on public lands to perform this function.     

Survivorship,growth and self-thinning in Banksia ericifolia

High-density (dense) and low-density (sparse) plots were set up in naturally sown monospecific stands of Banksia ericifolia in coastal heath, 3 years after fire. This was done both in high-growth and low-growth areas. Plant mortality was recorded quarterly, and two harvests were made at 6 and 9 years to sample growth. Density-independent mortality at an exponential rate was observed in the low-growth treatments at both densities, and in the high-growth sparse treatment. Growth level affected mortality, with the half-life of populations in the high-growth sparse plots being double that of populations in the low-growth plots. Density-dependent mortality (self-thinning) was seen only in the high-growth dense plots. Seasonal effects on mortality were slight; maximum mortality was observed in the spring-summer period in plots subject to density-independent mortality, and in the winter-spring quarter in plots that had self-thinned. Yields in the high-growth plots and the low-growth dense plots were high for heath vegetation. The self-thinning populations did not exceed White's (1985) upper boundary for thinning lines of log intercept (K) = 5 on standardized axes. The data suggested a log intercept value in the range 4.8–4.9 in the high-growth stands assuming a thinning-line slope of – 1.5. Banksia ericifolia (a large shrub/small tree) has a high mean plant weight per given thinning density compared with trees, where an upper limit of log K= .4 has been suggested by White (1985). The volume of canopy space per plant in B. ericifolia is not unusual compared with other species. The amount of biomass packed into a given volume of canopy space was high in this Banksia, achieved by having leaves with a low ratio of area to weight (specific leaf area, SLA). For given values of density, leaf area index and proportion of shoot as leaf, plants with a low SLA will be several times heavier than plants with a high SLA. This achieves a high biomass to volume ratio without an erectophile canopy and may explain the high intercept seen for thinning lines of conifers.     

Moments,cumulants, and polygenic dynamics

A new approach for describing the evolution of polygenic traits subject to selection and mutation is presented. Differential equations for the change of cumulants of the allelic frequency distribution at a particular locus and for the cumulants of the distributions of genotypic and phenotypic values are derived. The derivation is based on the assumptions of random mating, no sex differences, absence of random drift, additive gene action, linkage equilibrium, and Hardy-Weinberg proportions. Cumulants are a set of parameters that, like moments, describe the shape of a probability density. Compared with moments, however, they have properties that make them a much more convenient tool for investigating polygenic traits. Applications to directional and stabilizing selection are given.     

Secondary hosts of the Asian citrus psyllid,Diaphorina citri Kuwayama: Survivorship and preference

The Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama, is the most economically important and difficult to manage citrus pest in Florida due to its role as vector of huanglongbing or citrus greening disease. Spread of the disease is a function of dispersal patterns and thus influenced by availability of suitable hosts. Young leaves of citrus or related plants are required for reproduction, but in their absence, secondary hosts may provide needed resources to enhance survival. Therefore, survivorship on and preference for three abundant weed species was investigated. The suitability of potential secondary host plants Bidens alba (L.), DC, Ludwigia octovalvis (Jacqu.) P. H. Raven, and Eupatorium capillifolium (Lam.) Small was compared to a reproductive host, Murraya paniculata (L.) Jack, in no‐choice tests by assessing survivorship of D. citri adults confined to these plants in cages. Preference was evaluated by choice tests where D. citri adults were released into cages containing all three secondary hosts alone or with M. paniculata. Both B. alba and E. capillifolium increased D. citri survivorship by twofold compared to starvation conditions with only water available. Choice trials revealed no difference in initial selection between true and secondary hosts; however, the true host was favoured over time. This result suggested that hosts were selected initially by sight, and only later by taste and/or smell. While secondary hosts are unable to support reproduction or long‐term survival, these findings establish the ability of D. citri to use secondary hosts that are ubiquitous in Florida citrus groves as temporary reservoirs for food and moisture when ideal host conditions are scarce or absent.