The Origins of COVID-19: China and Global Capitalism

Abstract

Zhang's broad argument that capitalism, urbanization, agricultural industrialization, and the fetishization of biomedical innovation may instigate - rather than quell - global disease outbreaks is persuasive. Finally, in "Persistence", Zhang tackles the geopolitical tensions around COVID-19 and illustrates how each outbreak in the ongoing pandemic reinforces framings of epidemics as "natural" disasters, blinding us to the ecomodernist roots of infectious disease. In her opening "Prelude", Zhang reveals how state-making, science and technology, and global capitalism are entangled in contemporary China, often to the detriment of public health. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Journal of Asian Studies is the property of Duke University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)