Key publications
Chan KWR, Enticott G (2023). Good methods for good farmers? Mapping the language of good farming with “diligent farmers” in Hong Kong. Journal of Rural Studies, 100, 103005-103005.
Chan KW (2020). Politics of Smell:. Constructing Animal Waste Governmentality and Good Farming Subjectivities in Colonial Hong Kong. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 1-25.
Chan K, Enticott G (2019). The Suzhi farmer: Constructing and contesting farming Subjectivities in post-Socialist China.
Journal of Rural Studies,
67, 69-78.
Abstract:
The Suzhi farmer: Constructing and contesting farming Subjectivities in post-Socialist China
This paper analyses the use of the cultural convention of suzhi in attempts to improve biosecurity practices in the Chinese pig industry. Suzhi loosely refers to ‘quality’ and has been used to define the appropriate conduct of citizens during the era of market reforms. Like other forms of agricultural governmentality, suzhi provides a way of distinguishing ‘good farming’ and creating entrepreneurial subjectivities. However, in other policy areas, suzhi has been shown to marginalise the poor and reinforce social inequalities. This paper examines the extent to which discourses of suzhi in a biosecurity context contributes to the use of preventive animal health practices, amongst pig farmers in Chongming Island, Shanghai. Drawing on documentary evidence and interviews with 33 farm animal breeders and 3 pig veterinary surgeons, the paper examines how suzhi contributes to the creation of ‘good farming’ subjectivities in order to modernise the animal health practices of pig farmers. The paper shows how suzhi contributes to the valourisation and stigmatization of different pig farming subjectivities, suggesting that it reinforces existing socio-economic inequalities. Moreover, the paper describes the ways in which modes of conduct associated with suzhi are negotiated and challenged and reduced to a symbolic ‘cloak’ that disguises the reality of preventive animal health practices.
Abstract.
Chan KWR, Flynn A (2018). Food Production Standards and the Chinese Local State: Exploring New Patterns of Environmental Governance in the Bamboo Shoot Industry in Lin’an. The China Quarterly, 1–27-1–27.
Wing Chan K, Miller B (2015). Capitalist pigs: Governmentality, subjectivities, and the regulation of pig farming in colonial Hong Kong, 1950–1970.
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space,
33(6), 1022-1042.
Abstract:
Capitalist pigs: Governmentality, subjectivities, and the regulation of pig farming in colonial Hong Kong, 1950–1970
This paper analyses the philanthropic governmentality of the Hong Kong colonial government during the Farm Improvement Program (1950–70), focusing on the utilization of pigs, interest-free loans, and the spatial constitution of pig farming as technologies to transform refugee farmers into ‘productive workers’. This research has three primary objectives: to (1) elucidate how the production of knowledge and governing technologies, including the spatial design of livestock production, facilitated the disciplining of pig farmers in a colonial context; (2) expand Foucauldian governmentality analysis into the realm of the regulatory mechanisms of food production systems by documenting how philanthropic pig donations, lending programmes, and the distribution of material benefits promoted capitalist pig production; and (3) demonstrate how technologies – specifically the social construction of pigs and the spatial constitution of pig farming practices – moulded the subjectivities of colonial pig farmers. Empirical analysis is based on archival research and in-depth interviews with 19 pig farmers and two pig farmers’ association leaders. We identify the provision of free pigs and pigsties, the demonstration of new spatial pig-raising practices, and the establishment of interest-free lending systems as the major technologies of governance employed under the Farm Improvement Program. Through these technologies refugee farmers from mainland China learned and internalized concepts of efficiency, productivity, farm management, and self-help. The technologies of the Farm Improvement Program were not just philanthropic activities, they were political tactics to confront the penetration of communism into the colony by changing the practices, productivity, and subjectivities of refugee farmers.
Abstract.
Chan K (2015). Contesting urban agriculture: the politics of meat production in the License-Buy-Back Scheme (2006-2007) in Hong Kong. In Emel J, Neo H (Eds.)
Political Ecologies of Meat, New York: Routledge, 295-314.
Abstract:
Contesting urban agriculture: the politics of meat production in the License-Buy-Back Scheme (2006-2007) in Hong Kong
Abstract.
Publications by category
Journal articles
Chan KWR, Enticott G (2023). Good methods for good farmers? Mapping the language of good farming with “diligent farmers” in Hong Kong. Journal of Rural Studies, 100, 103005-103005.
Bard A, Hinchliffe S, Chan KW, Buller H, Reyher K (2023). ‘I Believe What I’m Saying More Than the Test’: the Complicated Place of Rapid, Point-of-Care Tests in Veterinary Diagnostic Practice.
Antibiotics,
12, 1-1.
Abstract:
‘I Believe What I’m Saying More Than the Test’: the Complicated Place of Rapid, Point-of-Care Tests in Veterinary Diagnostic Practice
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health and development threat, with calls for the optimisation of antimicrobial use (AMU) in the treatment of both humans and animals prevalent across national and international policy. Rapid, low-cost and readily available diagnostics that specifically identify pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles have been identified as essential parts of this optimisation process, yet questions over the assumed utility of novel rapid technology as a cornerstone of tackling agricultural AMU still exist. To understand whether this technology may support the optimisation of AMU in the treatment of animal disease, this study qualitatively examines the discourse between veterinarians, laboratory representatives, veterinary researchers and (cattle) farmers within three participatory events concerning diagnostic testing on UK farms, to offer a critical examination of the interaction between veterinary diagnostic practice and agricultural AMU. Veterinarian-led discussion suggested that veterinary rationales for engaging with diagnostic testing are nuanced and complex, where veterinarians (i) were driven by both medical and non-medical motivators; (ii) had a complex professional identity influencing diagnostic-test engagement; and (iii) balanced a multitude of situated contextual factors that informed “gut feelings” on test choice and interpretation. In consequence, it is suggested that data-driven diagnostic technologies may be more palatable for veterinarians to promote to their farm clients in the pursuit of better and more sustainable AMU, whilst also being in synergy with the emerging preventative role of the farm veterinarian.
Abstract.
Bruce A, Adam KE, Buller H, Chan KWR, Tait J (2021). Creating an innovation ecosystem for rapid diagnostic tests for livestock to support sustainable antibiotic use. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 34(11), 1249-1262.
Moya S, Chan KWR, Hinchliffe S, Buller H, Espluga J, Benavides B, Diéguez FJ, Yus E, Ciaravino G, Casal J, et al (2021). Influence on the implementation of biosecurity measures in dairy cattle farms: Communication between veterinarians and dairy farmers. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 190, 105329-105329.
Chan KW, Bard AM, Adam KE, Rees GM, Morgans L, Cresswell L, Hinchliffe S, Barrett DC, Reyher KK, Buller H, et al (2020). Diagnostics and the challenge of antimicrobial resistance: a survey of UK livestock veterinarians’ perceptions and practices. Veterinary Record, 187(12), e125-e125.
Maye D, Chan KWR (2020). On-farm biosecurity in livestock production: farmer behaviour, cultural identities and practices of care.
Emerging Topics in Life Sciences,
4(5), 521-530.
Abstract:
On-farm biosecurity in livestock production: farmer behaviour, cultural identities and practices of care
Definitions of biosecurity typically include generalised statements about how biosecurity risks on farms should be managed and contained. However, in reality, on-farm biosecurity practices are uneven and transfer differently between social groups, geographical scales and agricultural commodity chains. This paper reviews social science studies that examine on-farm biosecurity for animal health. We first review behavioural and psychosocial models of individual farmer behaviour/decisions. Behavioural approaches are prominent in biosecurity policy but have limitations because of a focus on individual farmer behaviour and intentions. We then review geographical and rural sociological work that emphasises social and cultural structures, contexts and norms that guide disease behaviour. Socio-cultural approaches have the capacity to extend the more commonly applied behavioural approaches and contribute to the better formulation of biosecurity policy and on-farm practice. This includes strengthening our understanding of ‘good farming' identity, tacit knowledge, farmer influence networks, and reformulating biosecurity as localised practices of care. Recognising on-farm biosecurity as practices of biosecure farming care offers a new way of engaging, motivating and encouraging farmers to manage and contain diseases on farm. This is critical given government intentions to devolve biosecurity governance to the farming industry.
Abstract.
Chan KW (2020). Politics of Smell:. Constructing Animal Waste Governmentality and Good Farming Subjectivities in Colonial Hong Kong. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 1-25.
Buller H, Adam K, Bard A, Bruce A, (Ray) Chan KW, Hinchliffe S, Morgans L, Rees G, Reyher KK (2020). Veterinary Diagnostic Practice and the Use of Rapid Tests in Antimicrobial Stewardship on UK Livestock Farms. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7
Chan K, Enticott G (2019). The Suzhi farmer: Constructing and contesting farming Subjectivities in post-Socialist China.
Journal of Rural Studies,
67, 69-78.
Abstract:
The Suzhi farmer: Constructing and contesting farming Subjectivities in post-Socialist China
This paper analyses the use of the cultural convention of suzhi in attempts to improve biosecurity practices in the Chinese pig industry. Suzhi loosely refers to ‘quality’ and has been used to define the appropriate conduct of citizens during the era of market reforms. Like other forms of agricultural governmentality, suzhi provides a way of distinguishing ‘good farming’ and creating entrepreneurial subjectivities. However, in other policy areas, suzhi has been shown to marginalise the poor and reinforce social inequalities. This paper examines the extent to which discourses of suzhi in a biosecurity context contributes to the use of preventive animal health practices, amongst pig farmers in Chongming Island, Shanghai. Drawing on documentary evidence and interviews with 33 farm animal breeders and 3 pig veterinary surgeons, the paper examines how suzhi contributes to the creation of ‘good farming’ subjectivities in order to modernise the animal health practices of pig farmers. The paper shows how suzhi contributes to the valourisation and stigmatization of different pig farming subjectivities, suggesting that it reinforces existing socio-economic inequalities. Moreover, the paper describes the ways in which modes of conduct associated with suzhi are negotiated and challenged and reduced to a symbolic ‘cloak’ that disguises the reality of preventive animal health practices.
Abstract.
Chan KWR, Flynn A (2018). Food Production Standards and the Chinese Local State: Exploring New Patterns of Environmental Governance in the Bamboo Shoot Industry in Lin’an. The China Quarterly, 1–27-1–27.
Flynn A, Chan KW, Zhu ZH, Yu L (2017). Sustainability, space and supply chains: the role of bamboo in Anji County, China. Journal of Rural Studies, 49, 128-139.
Chan KW (2016). Rethinking the mechanism of the social impact assessment with the ‘right to the city’ concept: a case study of the Blue House Revitalization Project in Hong Kong (2006–2012). International Planning Studies, 22(4), 305-319.
Wing Chan K, Miller B (2015). Capitalist pigs: Governmentality, subjectivities, and the regulation of pig farming in colonial Hong Kong, 1950–1970.
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space,
33(6), 1022-1042.
Abstract:
Capitalist pigs: Governmentality, subjectivities, and the regulation of pig farming in colonial Hong Kong, 1950–1970
This paper analyses the philanthropic governmentality of the Hong Kong colonial government during the Farm Improvement Program (1950–70), focusing on the utilization of pigs, interest-free loans, and the spatial constitution of pig farming as technologies to transform refugee farmers into ‘productive workers’. This research has three primary objectives: to (1) elucidate how the production of knowledge and governing technologies, including the spatial design of livestock production, facilitated the disciplining of pig farmers in a colonial context; (2) expand Foucauldian governmentality analysis into the realm of the regulatory mechanisms of food production systems by documenting how philanthropic pig donations, lending programmes, and the distribution of material benefits promoted capitalist pig production; and (3) demonstrate how technologies – specifically the social construction of pigs and the spatial constitution of pig farming practices – moulded the subjectivities of colonial pig farmers. Empirical analysis is based on archival research and in-depth interviews with 19 pig farmers and two pig farmers’ association leaders. We identify the provision of free pigs and pigsties, the demonstration of new spatial pig-raising practices, and the establishment of interest-free lending systems as the major technologies of governance employed under the Farm Improvement Program. Through these technologies refugee farmers from mainland China learned and internalized concepts of efficiency, productivity, farm management, and self-help. The technologies of the Farm Improvement Program were not just philanthropic activities, they were political tactics to confront the penetration of communism into the colony by changing the practices, productivity, and subjectivities of refugee farmers.
Abstract.
Chan KW (2014). China's Environmental Challenges. International Planning Studies, 19(3-4), 414-416.
Chan KW (2014). China's Rise to Power: Conceptions of State Governance. International Planning Studies, 19(3-4), 410-414.
Chapters
Maye D, Chan KW (2021). National Biosecurity Regimes. In (Ed) Routledge Handbook of Biosecurity and Invasive Species, Taylor & Francis, 243-260.
Smart A, Smart J, Chan KW (2020). China’s entangled borders: citizenship, infectious diseases, and invasive species. In Peckham R (Ed)
Species of Motion: Infectious Diseases and Surveillance Technologies in Southeast Asia, Palgrave Macmillan:.
Abstract:
China’s entangled borders: citizenship, infectious diseases, and invasive species
Abstract.
Maye D, Chan KW (2020). National biosecurity regimes: plant and animal bio-politics in the UK and China. In Fall J, Francis R, Schlaepfer MA, Baker K (Eds.)
The Routledge Handbook of Biosecurity and Invasive Species, Abingdon: Routledge.
Abstract:
National biosecurity regimes: plant and animal bio-politics in the UK and China
Abstract.
Chan K (2015). Contesting urban agriculture: the politics of meat production in the License-Buy-Back Scheme (2006-2007) in Hong Kong. In Emel J, Neo H (Eds.)
Political Ecologies of Meat, New York: Routledge, 295-314.
Abstract:
Contesting urban agriculture: the politics of meat production in the License-Buy-Back Scheme (2006-2007) in Hong Kong
Abstract.
Chan KW (2015). Governance of sustainable development in China: a case study of the bamboo shoot production in Lin'an County, China. In Condie J, Cooper A (Eds.)
DIALOGUES OF SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION: SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH AND TRANSITIONS TO URBAN CONTEXTS, Pressbook, 171-175.
Abstract:
Governance of sustainable development in China: a case study of the bamboo shoot production in Lin'an County, China
Abstract.
Publications by year
2023
Chan KWR, Enticott G (2023). Good methods for good farmers? Mapping the language of good farming with “diligent farmers” in Hong Kong. Journal of Rural Studies, 100, 103005-103005.
Bard A, Hinchliffe S, Chan KW, Buller H, Reyher K (2023). ‘I Believe What I’m Saying More Than the Test’: the Complicated Place of Rapid, Point-of-Care Tests in Veterinary Diagnostic Practice.
Antibiotics,
12, 1-1.
Abstract:
‘I Believe What I’m Saying More Than the Test’: the Complicated Place of Rapid, Point-of-Care Tests in Veterinary Diagnostic Practice
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health and development threat, with calls for the optimisation of antimicrobial use (AMU) in the treatment of both humans and animals prevalent across national and international policy. Rapid, low-cost and readily available diagnostics that specifically identify pathogens and their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles have been identified as essential parts of this optimisation process, yet questions over the assumed utility of novel rapid technology as a cornerstone of tackling agricultural AMU still exist. To understand whether this technology may support the optimisation of AMU in the treatment of animal disease, this study qualitatively examines the discourse between veterinarians, laboratory representatives, veterinary researchers and (cattle) farmers within three participatory events concerning diagnostic testing on UK farms, to offer a critical examination of the interaction between veterinary diagnostic practice and agricultural AMU. Veterinarian-led discussion suggested that veterinary rationales for engaging with diagnostic testing are nuanced and complex, where veterinarians (i) were driven by both medical and non-medical motivators; (ii) had a complex professional identity influencing diagnostic-test engagement; and (iii) balanced a multitude of situated contextual factors that informed “gut feelings” on test choice and interpretation. In consequence, it is suggested that data-driven diagnostic technologies may be more palatable for veterinarians to promote to their farm clients in the pursuit of better and more sustainable AMU, whilst also being in synergy with the emerging preventative role of the farm veterinarian.
Abstract.
2021
Bruce A, Adam KE, Buller H, Chan KWR, Tait J (2021). Creating an innovation ecosystem for rapid diagnostic tests for livestock to support sustainable antibiotic use. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 34(11), 1249-1262.
Moya S, Chan KWR, Hinchliffe S, Buller H, Espluga J, Benavides B, Diéguez FJ, Yus E, Ciaravino G, Casal J, et al (2021). Influence on the implementation of biosecurity measures in dairy cattle farms: Communication between veterinarians and dairy farmers. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 190, 105329-105329.
Maye D, Chan KW (2021). National Biosecurity Regimes. In (Ed) Routledge Handbook of Biosecurity and Invasive Species, Taylor & Francis, 243-260.
2020
Smart A, Smart J, Chan KW (2020). China’s entangled borders: citizenship, infectious diseases, and invasive species. In Peckham R (Ed)
Species of Motion: Infectious Diseases and Surveillance Technologies in Southeast Asia, Palgrave Macmillan:.
Abstract:
China’s entangled borders: citizenship, infectious diseases, and invasive species
Abstract.
Chan KW, Bard AM, Adam KE, Rees GM, Morgans L, Cresswell L, Hinchliffe S, Barrett DC, Reyher KK, Buller H, et al (2020). Diagnostics and the challenge of antimicrobial resistance: a survey of UK livestock veterinarians’ perceptions and practices. Veterinary Record, 187(12), e125-e125.
Maye D, Chan KW (2020). National biosecurity regimes: plant and animal bio-politics in the UK and China. In Fall J, Francis R, Schlaepfer MA, Baker K (Eds.)
The Routledge Handbook of Biosecurity and Invasive Species, Abingdon: Routledge.
Abstract:
National biosecurity regimes: plant and animal bio-politics in the UK and China
Abstract.
Maye D, Chan KWR (2020). On-farm biosecurity in livestock production: farmer behaviour, cultural identities and practices of care.
Emerging Topics in Life Sciences,
4(5), 521-530.
Abstract:
On-farm biosecurity in livestock production: farmer behaviour, cultural identities and practices of care
Definitions of biosecurity typically include generalised statements about how biosecurity risks on farms should be managed and contained. However, in reality, on-farm biosecurity practices are uneven and transfer differently between social groups, geographical scales and agricultural commodity chains. This paper reviews social science studies that examine on-farm biosecurity for animal health. We first review behavioural and psychosocial models of individual farmer behaviour/decisions. Behavioural approaches are prominent in biosecurity policy but have limitations because of a focus on individual farmer behaviour and intentions. We then review geographical and rural sociological work that emphasises social and cultural structures, contexts and norms that guide disease behaviour. Socio-cultural approaches have the capacity to extend the more commonly applied behavioural approaches and contribute to the better formulation of biosecurity policy and on-farm practice. This includes strengthening our understanding of ‘good farming' identity, tacit knowledge, farmer influence networks, and reformulating biosecurity as localised practices of care. Recognising on-farm biosecurity as practices of biosecure farming care offers a new way of engaging, motivating and encouraging farmers to manage and contain diseases on farm. This is critical given government intentions to devolve biosecurity governance to the farming industry.
Abstract.
Chan KW (2020). Politics of Smell:. Constructing Animal Waste Governmentality and Good Farming Subjectivities in Colonial Hong Kong. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 1-25.
Buller H, Adam K, Bard A, Bruce A, (Ray) Chan KW, Hinchliffe S, Morgans L, Rees G, Reyher KK (2020). Veterinary Diagnostic Practice and the Use of Rapid Tests in Antimicrobial Stewardship on UK Livestock Farms. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7
2019
Chan K, Enticott G (2019). The Suzhi farmer: Constructing and contesting farming Subjectivities in post-Socialist China.
Journal of Rural Studies,
67, 69-78.
Abstract:
The Suzhi farmer: Constructing and contesting farming Subjectivities in post-Socialist China
This paper analyses the use of the cultural convention of suzhi in attempts to improve biosecurity practices in the Chinese pig industry. Suzhi loosely refers to ‘quality’ and has been used to define the appropriate conduct of citizens during the era of market reforms. Like other forms of agricultural governmentality, suzhi provides a way of distinguishing ‘good farming’ and creating entrepreneurial subjectivities. However, in other policy areas, suzhi has been shown to marginalise the poor and reinforce social inequalities. This paper examines the extent to which discourses of suzhi in a biosecurity context contributes to the use of preventive animal health practices, amongst pig farmers in Chongming Island, Shanghai. Drawing on documentary evidence and interviews with 33 farm animal breeders and 3 pig veterinary surgeons, the paper examines how suzhi contributes to the creation of ‘good farming’ subjectivities in order to modernise the animal health practices of pig farmers. The paper shows how suzhi contributes to the valourisation and stigmatization of different pig farming subjectivities, suggesting that it reinforces existing socio-economic inequalities. Moreover, the paper describes the ways in which modes of conduct associated with suzhi are negotiated and challenged and reduced to a symbolic ‘cloak’ that disguises the reality of preventive animal health practices.
Abstract.
2018
Chan KWR, Flynn A (2018). Food Production Standards and the Chinese Local State: Exploring New Patterns of Environmental Governance in the Bamboo Shoot Industry in Lin’an. The China Quarterly, 1–27-1–27.
2017
Flynn A, Chan KW, Zhu ZH, Yu L (2017). Sustainability, space and supply chains: the role of bamboo in Anji County, China. Journal of Rural Studies, 49, 128-139.
2016
Chan KW (2016). Rethinking the mechanism of the social impact assessment with the ‘right to the city’ concept: a case study of the Blue House Revitalization Project in Hong Kong (2006–2012). International Planning Studies, 22(4), 305-319.
2015
Wing Chan K, Miller B (2015). Capitalist pigs: Governmentality, subjectivities, and the regulation of pig farming in colonial Hong Kong, 1950–1970.
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space,
33(6), 1022-1042.
Abstract:
Capitalist pigs: Governmentality, subjectivities, and the regulation of pig farming in colonial Hong Kong, 1950–1970
This paper analyses the philanthropic governmentality of the Hong Kong colonial government during the Farm Improvement Program (1950–70), focusing on the utilization of pigs, interest-free loans, and the spatial constitution of pig farming as technologies to transform refugee farmers into ‘productive workers’. This research has three primary objectives: to (1) elucidate how the production of knowledge and governing technologies, including the spatial design of livestock production, facilitated the disciplining of pig farmers in a colonial context; (2) expand Foucauldian governmentality analysis into the realm of the regulatory mechanisms of food production systems by documenting how philanthropic pig donations, lending programmes, and the distribution of material benefits promoted capitalist pig production; and (3) demonstrate how technologies – specifically the social construction of pigs and the spatial constitution of pig farming practices – moulded the subjectivities of colonial pig farmers. Empirical analysis is based on archival research and in-depth interviews with 19 pig farmers and two pig farmers’ association leaders. We identify the provision of free pigs and pigsties, the demonstration of new spatial pig-raising practices, and the establishment of interest-free lending systems as the major technologies of governance employed under the Farm Improvement Program. Through these technologies refugee farmers from mainland China learned and internalized concepts of efficiency, productivity, farm management, and self-help. The technologies of the Farm Improvement Program were not just philanthropic activities, they were political tactics to confront the penetration of communism into the colony by changing the practices, productivity, and subjectivities of refugee farmers.
Abstract.
Chan K (2015). Contesting urban agriculture: the politics of meat production in the License-Buy-Back Scheme (2006-2007) in Hong Kong. In Emel J, Neo H (Eds.)
Political Ecologies of Meat, New York: Routledge, 295-314.
Abstract:
Contesting urban agriculture: the politics of meat production in the License-Buy-Back Scheme (2006-2007) in Hong Kong
Abstract.
Chan KW (2015). Governance of sustainable development in China: a case study of the bamboo shoot production in Lin'an County, China. In Condie J, Cooper A (Eds.)
DIALOGUES OF SUSTAINABLE URBANISATION: SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH AND TRANSITIONS TO URBAN CONTEXTS, Pressbook, 171-175.
Abstract:
Governance of sustainable development in China: a case study of the bamboo shoot production in Lin'an County, China
Abstract.
2014
Chan KW (2014). China's Environmental Challenges. International Planning Studies, 19(3-4), 414-416.
Chan KW (2014). China's Rise to Power: Conceptions of State Governance. International Planning Studies, 19(3-4), 410-414.
