Critical reflections on the field of tobacco research

The role of tobacco control in defining the tobacco research agenda

Bibliographic Data

ID15294331
AuthorsM Mair (0000-0003-0929-5426, University of Manchester, corresponding author), C Kierans (0000-0001-7268-4438, University of Liverpool)
Year2007
Volume17
Issue2
Pages103-112
Publication date2007-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0958-1596 • E-ISSN: 1469-3682
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09581590601045204
OpenAlexW1988565578
LanguageEN
Citations received26
References cited29

In recent years, tobacco research, as a field of investigative practices, has come to be seen as a major contributor to broader tobacco control efforts and a ‘significant component of the global health agenda’ (World Health Organization (1999 World Health Organisation. 1999. Confronting the epidemic: A global agenda for tobacco control research, Geneva: WHO. [Google Scholar]). Confronting the epidemic: A Global Agenda For Tobacco Control Research. Geneva: WHO, p. 14; Warner, K. E. (2005 Warner, K. E. 2005. The role of research in international tobacco control. American Journal of Public Health, 95: 976–984. [Google Scholar]). The role of research in international tobacco control. American Journal of Public Health, 95(6), 976–984). However, despite some discussion about the research-specific implications of, for instance, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) (World Health Organisation (2003a World Health Organisation. 2003a. The framework convention on tobacco control, Geneva: WHO. ratified 2005 [Google Scholar]) (ratified 2005). The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Geneva: WHO, Articles 20–22), questions remain about what the exact nature of the relationship between tobacco research and tobacco control should be. Guided by that central question, this article draws attention to recent attempts to define this relationship, in particular that embodied in the Global Tobacco Research Network (GTRN), in order to facilitate debate on how such definitions attempt to shape the research agenda. Throughout, the main critical focus will be the attempt to generate characterizations of the field, through entities like the GTRN, which relate tobacco-related research practices vis-à-vis their relationship to tobacco control. It is argued that such characterizations present a distorted and oversimplified picture of how we might assess the empirical work we find across the field as a whole. Tracing these difficulties back to the narrow normative position embodied within the GTRN and World Health Organization approach to tobacco research, the article concludes by arguing that there is a need to recognize, rather than correct for, the overlapping and diverse bodies of work which the study of tobacco-related questions has helped establish

Convention · Global health · Health care · Political science · Public health · Public relations · Tobacco control · Tobacco industry · Employment and Welfare Studies · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Healthcare Systems and Challenges · Law · Medicine