Calculating nature: the case of badgers, bovine tuberculosis and cattle.

摘要

The aim of the paper is to examine the 'governmentalities' (the methods employed as the state both represents and intervenes in the domains it seeks to govern) associated with attempts to manage nature. In particular, it assesses the role that numbers have played in rural governance. Numbers are seen as an important tool of modern government. However, like other aspects of science, their use in governing nature has been contested by other epistemologies. Drawing upon efforts to regulate the spreadof bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in the UK, the paper firstly examines how numbers have been used in this policy debate. Secondly, the paper outlines 3 epistemologies of nature (nature as numbers, nature as known, and ecological nature) which have been employed in contesting government policy. Finally the paper concludes by analysing the interactions of these knowledges of nature and considering the voice of the badger (a key factor in the transmission of TB to cattle) in these constructions of itsidentity.