Includes bibliographical references (p. [299]-313) and index.

Acknowledgments; Preface: Nailed to the Crossroads; Introduction; Part I: Anthropology; 1. Anthropological Inoculations; 2. Thinking Immunologically; 3. Immunology and Illness Experience; Part II: Epistemology; 4. Foreign AIDS: Cultural Relations as an Immunological Form; 5. Unnatural Selection: Social Symbols of the Microbial World; 6. Reciprocity: Solution and Dissolution in Immunology; 7. Undiscovered Selves; Part III: Autogeny; Epilogue: Nonself Help; Notes; References; Index.

In this fascinating and inventive work, A. David Napier argues that the central assumption of immunology--that we survive through the recognition and elimination of non-self--has become a defining concept of the modern age. Tracing this immunological understanding of self and other through an incredibly diverse array of venues, from medical research to legal and military strategies and the electronic revolution, Napier shows how this defensive way of looking at the world not only destroys diversity but also eliminates the possibility of truly engaging difference, thereby impoverishing our cultur.

Description based on print version record.