Encounters with the Most Animal Other: Rabies, Biopolitics, and Disease Prevention in Bali

Abstract

Abstract Since 2008, rabies has killed several thousand semi-feral dogs in Bali, but hundreds of thousands of dogs have been killed by government officials to control the disease, which continues to spread. This article tracks this rabies outbreak and the efforts to contain the disease, noting frictions that emerged between officials and animal welfare activists. The former depict the dogs as a nuisance that should be exterminated, while the latter showcase the dogs’ cultural and scientific importance. This biopolitical contest hinges on formulations of animality that position dogs in opposition to humans. Rabies complicates this conflict, as it not only violates human/nonhuman animal boundaries, rendering both human and nonhuman communities vulnerable to infection, but also transforms those who are infected into radically animal (violent, unreasonable, frothing) individuals. By rethinking animality via rabies, we may better recognize and counter articulations of animality that render vulnerable populations killable.