Contaminating Covid-19 dissent
The role of epistemic quarantines in conflating scepticism with conspiracy theories in public health
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21148977 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael G Heyman (Film Independent), Michael Heyman (independent scholar), Yogi Hale Hendlin (0000-0002-1714-6132, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 5-6 |
| Pages | 236-253 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Health Risk & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-8575 • E-ISSN: 1469-8331 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13698575.2025.2547165 |
| OpenAlex | W4413306971 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 42 |
Public perceptions and discussion of scientific facts became crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, as various risk estimation claims were used to legitimate novel state of exception policies at a global level and related public health intervention programmes. Critical perspectives in the social sciences have argued that the mainstream media presented an exaggerated account of scientific consensus while excluding well-founded critical dissent. This article presents a qualitative-textual analysis of one example of this form of knowledge construction: the use of the ‘conspiracy theory’ category within articles published by The Guardian newspaper in the UK between February 2020 and February 2022. Our analysis shows that these articles tended to conflate engaged critical positions on pandemic policies with irrational conspiracy theories, thus excluding these former positions from rational discussion and debate. We term this mechanism of exclusion epistemic quarantine, arguing that this extension of the conspiracy-theory category to include scepticism or criticism mis-labelled and potentially alienated genuine scientific criticism, eroding trust among some communities, obscuring sincere plural public health perspectives and undermining the longer-term legitimacy of science
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak · Biopower · Dissent · Environmental ethics · Environmental health · Epistemology · Health communication · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Public health · Public relations · Risk communication · Skepticism · Sociology · Law · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Philosophy · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy · Virology
The New Futures of Exclusion
The epic battle against coronavirus misinformation and conspiracy theories
Snowball Sampling
Logic and Conversation
Warrant for Genocide
Aggressive measures, rising inequalities, and mass formation during the Covid-19 crisis
The unintended consequences of Covid-19 vaccine policy
A focused protection vaccination strategy
What is a Conspiracy Theory
The Corona Truth Wars
From risks to catastrophes
Political Theology
Distrusting Consensus
The Law of the Excluded Middle
How does crisis affect the conflict between technocracy and populism? Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic
Uncertain Knowledge. Studying “Truth” and “Conspiracies” in the Digital Age
The Omnibus Homo Sacer
Dangerous Machinery
I Am Not a Conspiracy Theorist
Conspiracy Theory
What Went Wrong
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |