Gardner, Emily;
(2019)
Anti-vaccine activism: agnotological dissent and epistemic harm.
Masters thesis (M.Sc), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Vaccine hesitancy, the delay or refusal to vaccinate despite availability, is a current global concern, as it threatens to undermine the effectiveness of a pillar of public health. Lying at one extreme of hesitancy are anti-vaccine activists, or anti-vaxxers. Often, they are organised into groups who avidly campaign against vaccines, aiming to persuade others to withhold from vaccination, despite the overwhelming scientific and medical consensus that it is safe and effective. Campaigns of misinformation and doubt-creation against scientific unanimity have been used to protect commercial interests, for instance of the tobacco and fossil fuel industries. This practice has been termed agnotology, or the cultural production of ignorance. Through a case study of a prominent anti-vaccination organisation, this dissertation shows that these organisations employ the same agnotological tactics to cast doubt on the safety and efficacy of vaccines. The motivation of anti-vaccine organisations to agnotology is considered, before examination of its epistemic consequences, specifically its effects on scientific and public inquiry and understanding of vaccines. One case study indicates that manufactured debate by climate sceptics is epistemically detrimental to climate science by impeding inquiry and progress. Anti-vaccine agnotology does not seem to exert this effect on vaccine science, as new vaccines are developed and introduced. This dissertation argues that the dissent of anti-vaxxers is nonetheless epistemically corrupting and ultimately damaging. It creates a manipulative communication environment in which epistemic vices ‒ character traits which impede effective and responsible inquiry ‒ are encouraged and maintained in anti-vaxxers and the general public.
| Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | M.Sc |
| Title: | Anti-vaccine activism: agnotological dissent and epistemic harm |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Genetics and Genomic Medicine Dept UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10154076 |
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