"This open access book explores law, politics, and inequality in fights against infectious diseases. Guided by a theoretical framework called "governing through contagion", the studies in this book analyse how past and present governments have tried to combat contagious diseases, such as the bubonic plague, cholera, HIV/AIDS, and COVID-19. They examine how these governments used law and other technologies, including waste management, mask-wearing, quarantine stations, house inspections, and the burning of entire neighbourhoods, to achieve their aims of protecting populations and ensuring productivity"--