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ESRC Seminar Announcement: ‘National Biosecurity Regimes and Geopolitical Designs’ Thursday 26 May to Friday 27 May 2011 Keele University, Staffordshire, ST5 5BG Biosecurity has different national interpretations: in Europe it is strongly associated with the control of animal disease, in Australasia it encompasses the impact of invasive species on native ecosystems, and in the US it has come to be associated with preventing bio-terrorism. These national differences have important ramifications for a range of issues such as agricultural trade, freedom of movement, and relations between the 'developed' and 'developing' worlds. However, a trend towards the internationalisation and standardisation of biosecurity requirements is occurring. This is despite important differences in the biosecurity problems of developed and developing countries, linked to resource availability to manage incursions and the vulnerability of production systems and human populations. As the biosecurity concerns of developed countries are increasingly leading to 'pre-border' or 'off-shore' biosecurity interventions to produce bio-security at home, interventions are being made in the interspecies relationships of distant others. There is therefore a critical need for explanatory, cross-national and historical comparisons to respond to these national differences and interactions, and this seminar will provide a forum for this work. The seminar will focus on geopolitical designs in a biosecurity context. Confirmed speakers include: • Alan Ingram • Simon Reid-Henry • Juliet Fall • Brian Rappert • Richard Bryne • Sarah Simmons ESRC funded places are available, which cover UK-based costs of attending the conference. If you are interested in participating in this seminar or have any other enquiries relating to the seminar series, please get in touch with Kezia Barker ([log in to unmask]), Sarah Taylor ([log in to unmask]) or Andrew Dobson ([log in to unmask]). For further details please check out our website: http://www.keele.ac.uk/biosecurity/national-regimes.htm