A Gulf of Difference: Disputes over Gulf War-Related Illnesses

Brown, Phil; Zavestoski, Stephen; McCormick, Sabrina; Linder, Meadow; Mandelbaum, Joshua; Luebke, Theo

doi:10.2307/3090213

Cited by 54 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Similar patterns of challenge to medical expertise can be found in other disease‐based HSMs ( e.g. Brown et al 2001, 2002, Clarke 1998, Epstein 1996, Kroll‐Smith and Floyd 1997). Their previous research is built upon here to develop further the emergent synthesis between medical sociology and the sociology of science.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Medical modernisation, scientific research fields and the epistemic politics of health social movements

Hess

2004

Sociology Health & Illness

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As health social movements (HSMs) and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) professions increasingly mount challenges to the authority of medical knowledge, the tendency for the medical research community and medical profession to dismiss such epistemic challenges (termed here 'paternalistic progressivism') and the corresponding response from challengers that medicine is corrupt (termed here 'medical devolution') has given way to a process of incorporation of challenges under the rubric of evidence-based research (termed here the epistemic dimension of 'medical modernisation'). Under conditions of medical modernisation the distinction between lay/alternative knowledge and scientific knowledge, upon which the epistemic authority of medicine rested, is submerged in a more complex field of competing scientific networks and research programmes. Furthermore, the older policy of transmitting science to an illiterate public and suppressing dissidents is replaced by an emerging system of the 'public shaping of science', in which there is both greater agency of social movement/lay advocacy organisations and greater recognition of the legitimacy of that agency. Indirect and direct forms of the public shaping of science are discussed, as are emergent problems of co-optation. Understanding the emergent epistemic politics that are characterised here as medical modernisation requires an ongoing theoretical integration of medical sociology and the sociology of science.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 54%

Medical modernisation, scientific research fields and the epistemic politics of health social movements

Hess

2004

Sociology Health & Illness

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“…Citizen-science alliances are situations where lay people unite with scientists to study a particular subject, so this term could be used to describe the cases that we review in this article. The citizen-science alliance is often created as a later stage in the development of popular epidemiology (18). In this article, we use the term "lay person" and "public representative" synonymously to mean an individual who represents a community organization that is engaged in addressing the issue at hand.…”

Section: Background Of Public Involvement In Health Programs and Resementioning

confidence: 99%

Public Involvement in Breast Cancer Research: An Analysis and Model for Future Research

McCormick¹,

Brody²,

Brown³

et al. 2004

Int J Health Serv

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Public involvement in health program planning has been taking place for many years, and has provided a precedent for the emergence of public involvement in research conducted since the early 1990s. Such involvement is now widely seen in breast cancer research, due to the large public concern and major social movement activity. This article reviews current practices and general models of public involvement in research and constructs a prototype. The authors interviewed researchers, program officers, and laypeople in order to understand the obstacles, processes, and benefits. They conclude that public involvement has major ramifications for the democratization of science and the construction of knowledge by teaching lay people about science and sensitizing researchers to concerns of the public. There is growing support on the part of scientists and government agents for public involvement.

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“…The government rejected veterans' claims on the grounds of insufficient data to demonstrate a scientific correlation between their illnesses and the risks posed in the Gulf War. The etiology of Gulf War-related illnesses, similar to other occupational and environmental diseases, remains in dispute despite veterans' pressures and innovative research efforts (Brown, Zavestoski, McCormick, Linder, Mandelbaum, and Luebke 2001;Wheelwright 2001). Consequently, government agents and medical personnel have routinely attributed the symptoms to psychiatric conditions.…”

Section: Women's Involvement In the Gulf War Illness Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women's Work: Women's Involvement in the Gulf War Illness Movement

Shriver

Miller

Cable

2003

The Sociological Quarterly

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We use in-depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis to examine women's involvement in the Gulf War Illness movement. 1 % find that women's cumulative grievances of health concerns, financial hardships, and emotional problems opened them to movement recruitment as they surfed the Internet for information and support.The movement's division of labor was influenced not by gender but by health status. Women used the Internet to provide medical information and emotional support to geographically disperscd veterans. Activism transformed women activists by endowing them with a sense of empowerment and a somewhat broadened concern for social justice. Although their transformations disposed the women to become active on related issues, it did not extend to concerns about gender discrimination. We suggest that the next research step is to investigate gender differences in movement processes by surveying activists across a variety of movements to test propositions and to identify the characteristics of other social contexts that structurally instigate a departure from traditional gender roles.

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A Gulf of Difference: Disputes over Gulf War-Related Illnesses

Cited by 54 publications

References 35 publications

Medical modernisation, scientific research fields and the epistemic politics of health social movements

Medical modernisation, scientific research fields and the epistemic politics of health social movements

Public Involvement in Breast Cancer Research: An Analysis and Model for Future Research

Women's Work: Women's Involvement in the Gulf War Illness Movement

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