Prevention som grund för samhället: Smittan och dess efterdyningar i dystopin Bärarna

Katarina Bernhardsson, Stefan Ekman

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

By analysing Jessica Schiefauer’s speculative novel Bärarna (2020), this article examines the potential consequences of making disease prevention the cornerstone for an entire society. The novel is set in a future where a rabies-like disease has nearly wiped out humanity. In this dystopian setting, men, as carriers of the disease, are separated from women to prevent the resurgence of the illness.
The article investigates how the novel illuminates the problems and dangers that emerge when disease prevention becomes a central societal ideal. It discusses how the speculative fiction genre enables Schiefauer to create a thought experiment in which prevention is taken to its extreme, thereby exploring a society characterised by a mix of utopian care for health and the environment and dystopian dehumanising of disease carriers, as well as the use of disease prevention as a tool of power. The article shows how the novel cautions against the ethical and social risks of building societies based on fear and exclusion, and underscores the importance of critically examining the role of disease prevention in social construction.
Original languageSwedish
JournalSocialmedicinsk tidskrift
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2025

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