The Post-Antibiotic Era. Cultural and Social Perspectives on Globally Increasing Antibiotic Resistance

Cultural and Social Perspectives on Globally Increasing Antibiotic Resistance

Abstract

This report takes the threat of a ”Post-Antibiotic Era” as its departure for a discourse analysis. The World Health Organization among others uses this discourse to convey a feeling of urgency. The notion of a post-antibiotic era signifies a possible coming period in the history of mankind where the old antibiotics don not work anymore as the current strives for new medicine have failed. Dystopia imagery is often used to illustrate the coming threat and tropes that allude to previous perceived dark ages are recurrent to evoke a feeling of necessity to act.