ON EPIDEMICS: A History and Perspectives on the Past, Present, and Future of Economy, Society, and COVID-19 - Naphon Phumma

ON EPIDEMICS: A History and Perspectives on the Past, Present, and Future of Economy, Society, and COVID-19

By Naphon Phumma

Has COVID-19 already faded into the periphery of our collective memory? If the echoes remain, how do we choose to remember this plague? And must we be reminded that COVID-19 was far from humanity’s first encounter with a transformative contagion?

SM Publishing House invites readers to revisit, re-examine, and radically rethink our response to global outbreaks in ON EPIDEMICS, an incisive work by Naphon Phumma. This volume begins with a fundamental inquiry: How do we truly comprehend a pandemic? Phumma challenges the reader to move beyond the narrow confines of clinical science and virology, viewing "The Plague" as a multidimensional phenomenon deeply interwoven with the fabric of human civilization.

Phumma chronicles the epidemic as a persistent shadow accompanying humanity throughout history, tracing the trajectories of:

The Black Death in Europe
Ebola in Africa
The HIV/AIDS crisis in Thailand
SARS in Asia
The global devastation of Smallpox
Cholera in Victorian England
The 1918 Spanish Flu in the United States
COVID-19 in our contemporary era

Beyond mere historical narration, this work dissects the visceral impact of contagion on the Global Economy, Society, and Politics. It compels the reader to confront the "collateral consequences" of disease that extend far beyond physical infirmity, exploring the nexus between:

Epidemics and Globalization: The acceleration of spread in a hyper-connected world.

Contagion and Environment: The ecological origins of zoonotic crises.

Labor and Governance: How outbreaks redefine work and expand state authority.

Capital and Inequality: The widening chasm between the global elite and the impoverished during times of crisis.

Future Economies: Navigating the inevitable shifts and recurring crises in the post-pandemic landscape.

History suggests that humanity is locked in an eternal cycle with the pathogen; the "repeated projections" of the past will inevitably manifest in our future. By establishing that an epidemic is both the cause and the consequence of our way of life, Phumma ensures that the lessons of COVID-19 remain urgently relevant. This is not a book about a passing virus—it is a study of the enduring resilience and systemic vulnerabilities of the human condition.


Details
▪️Format : Paperback
▪️Piyavit Tepumnuaysakul : Editor-in-Chief
▪️Aekkasit Thiamtham : Editor
▪️Designed by ● SM STUDIO | Chirawat Rotaim ●
▪️Published : October 2024
▪️Length : 384 pages
▪️ISBN : 978-616-562-069-7
▪️Dimensions (in) : 5.25 x 8.25
▪️Price : 400 THB