Anti-Covid = Anti-science? How protesters against Covid-19 measures appropriate science to navigate the information environment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6443598 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anna Berg (0000-0001-5990-5144, The University of Chicago, USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 1093-1109 |
| Publication date | 2023-07-31 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | New Media & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14614448231189262 |
| OpenAlex | W4385459239 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 36 |
Opponents of COVID-19 measures invoke science in curious ways: they collect data, cite scientific studies, and even conduct their own research projects. Previous research has explained these scientific appropriations as the product of motivated reasoning, the result of widespread disinformation, or a populist strategy. This study provides a further explanation by focusing on these scientific projects. Drawing from repeated interviews with a select group of 36 anti-lockdown protesters in Germany, I find that my interviewees draw on scientific repertoires in order to overcome information insecurities triggered by their discovery of online countermedia. Although the results of their scientific efforts often remain inconclusive, through the process of doing research, protesters achieve a reorientation in the information environment and begin to rely on countermedia as a source of information and political opinion. Based on these findings, I argue that protesters refer to the sciences as a conversion technique
Business · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Disinformation · Epistemology · Fake news · Information science · Media studies · Order (exchange · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Law · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Philosophy · Social Media and Politics
The Propagandists' Playbook
Abductive Analysis
The Hybrid Media System
The impact of fake news on social media and its influence on health during the Covid-19 pandemic
Communities of Darkness? Users and Uses of Anti-System Alternative Media between Audience and Community
Science-related populism
Contesting epistemic authority
Convergence Culture
The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks
Why do people believe Covid-19 conspiracy theories
Disinformation as Collaborative Work
Motivated Rejection of Science
Network Propaganda
Anti-science Misinformation and Conspiracies
Evidence-based activism
Cognitive dissonance, ego-involvement, and motivated reasoning
Populist knowledge
Alliance of antagonism
Personal epistemologies of the media
Constructing alternative facts
The online anti-public sphere
Genetic ancestry testing among white nationalists
Anti-Intellectualism, Populism, and Motivated Resistance to Expert Consensus
Motivated Skepticism in the Evaluation of Political Beliefs
The Dynamics and Political Implications of Anti-Intellectualism in the United States
Climate Change Denial Books and Conservative Think Tanks
Paradoxes of populism during the pandemic
Conspiracy theories as barriers to controlling the spread of Covid-19 in the U.S
Politicization of Science in the Public Sphere
Do Facts Matter? Information and Misinformation in American Politics
Intellectualism, Anti-Intellectualism, and Epistemic Hubris in Red and Blue America
The anti-authoritarian revolt
Impure Science
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |