By Maya J. Goldenberg
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021
Vaccine Hesitancy explores vaccine hesitancy and refusal among parents in the industrialized North. Although biomedical, public health, and popular science literature has focused on a scientifically ignorant public, the real problem, Maya J. Goldenberg argues, lies not in misunderstanding, but in mistrust. Public confidence in scientific institutions and government bodies has been shaken by fraud, research scandals, and misconduct. Her book reveals how vaccine studies sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, compelling rhetorics from the anti-vaccine movement, and the spread of populist knowledge on social media have all contributed to a public mistrust of the scientific consensus. Importantly, it also emphasizes how historical and current discrimination in health care against marginalized communities continues to shape public perception of institutional trustworthiness. Goldenberg ultimately reframes vaccine hesitancy as a crisis of public trust rather than a war on science, arguing that having good scientific support of vaccine efficacy and safety is not enough. In a fraught communications landscape, Vaccine Hesitancy advocates for trust-building measures that focus on relationships, transparency, and justice.
By Maya J. Goldenberg
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2021
Vaccine Hesitancy explores vaccine hesitancy and refusal among parents in the industrialized North. Although biomedical, public health, and popular science literature has focused on a scientifically ignorant public, the real problem, Maya J. Goldenberg argues, lies not in misunderstanding, but in mistrust. Public confidence in scientific institutions and government bodies has been shaken by fraud, research scandals, and misconduct. Her book reveals how vaccine studies sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry, compelling rhetorics from the anti-vaccine movement, and the spread of populist knowledge on social media have all contributed to a public mistrust of the scientific consensus. Importantly, it also emphasizes how historical and current discrimination in health care against marginalized communities continues to shape public perception of institutional trustworthiness. Goldenberg ultimately reframes vaccine hesitancy as a crisis of public trust rather than a war on science, arguing that having good scientific support of vaccine efficacy and safety is not enough. In a fraught communications landscape, Vaccine Hesitancy advocates for trust-building measures that focus on relationships, transparency, and justice.
Langara College Philosophers’ Jam Dialogue Series. December 2021
PERITIA Lecture Series [Un]Truths in the Age of Disinformation. October 2021
Institute for Philosophy in Biology and Medicine, University of Bordeaux. October 2021
New York University Grossman School of Medicine, Division of Medical Ethics. June 2021
Sonography Canada. June 2021
Hospital for Sick Children Bioethics Grand Rounds. May 2021
Oxford University – The Oxford Research Centre in Humanities (TORCH). May 2021.
Ontario Association of Medical Radiation Scientists (OAMRS). Keynote address. May 2021.
University of Cambridge – panel on vaccine hesitancy. April 2021.
Montana State University – public panel. April 2021.
University of Cincinnati Public Engagement with Science Research Group. April 2021
University of Cincinnati – Center for Public Engagement with Science: “Vaccine Hesitancy. An Interview with Author Maya J. Goldenberg” hosted by the Mercantile Library. March 2021.
Queen’s University School of Medicine – History of Medicine Interest Group. March 2021
University of Manitoba Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics. March 2021.
A conversation with Dr. Arthur Schafer about themes from Maya Goldenberg’s new book Vaccine Hesitancy: Public Trust, Expertise and the War on Science.
Universidade Federal de Bahia and Cologne Center for Contemporary Epistemology and the Kantian Tradition (CONCEPT), University of Cologne: Philosopher Meets Critics Book Panel #5 – Vaccine Hesitancy with Maya Goldenberg, Kristen Intemann, and Sven Bernecker. January 2021.
York College of Pennsylvania. Public talk. February 2021.
Those resistant to receiving vaccines ("Anti-vaxxers") are commonly portrayed as dismissing science, discounting expertise, and being "at war" with science. Unfortunately, this oppositional rhetoric leads to disagreements and policies that only further distrust of the health system. In 2019 the World Health Organization labeled vaccine hesitancy one of the top ten global health risks. In her talk, Maya Goldenberg will discuss the ongoing crisis of trust and how it can be repaired. Goldenberg is an Associated Professor of Philosophy at the University of Guelph. Her research centers on the philosophy of science and medicine, with interest in the connection between science and values.
Durham University – Centre for Humanities Engaging Science and Society (CHESS). February 2021.
Michigan State University – Socially Engaged Philosophy of Science. January 2021.
Because vaccine hesitancy has been framed as a problem of public misunderstanding of science, vaccine outreach has focused on educating the misguided publics. Where efforts to change vaccine attitudes have failed, cynicism has bred the harsher view that the publics are anti-science and anti-expertise. Yet research into science and the publics lends strong support to the view that public attitudes regarding scientific claims turn crucially on epistemic trust rather than engagement with science itself. It follows that it is poor trust in the expert sources that engender vaccine hesitancy. This consideration redraws the lines of responsibility, where vaccine hesitancy signals a problem with scientific governance rather than a problem with the wayward publics. In order to improve vaccine communications, we should focus on building that trust rather than educating the misinformed publics or puzzling over the moral and epistemic failings of the publics. Doing this does not discount that public health agencies have the science on their sides. It does mean recognizing that the best science is not enough to ensure public uptake of health recommendations.
McGill University – Institute for Health and Social Policy. January 2021.
Because vaccine hesitancy is widely seen as an information problem, vaccine outreach has focused on educating the misguided publics about vaccine science and debunking myths. Yet research into science and the publics lends strong support to the view that public attitudes regarding scientific claims turn crucially on epistemic trust rather than understanding science. It follows that is poor trust in the expert sources that engender vaccine hesitancy, and that vaccine hesitancy, and that vaccine communications should focus on building that trust rather than trying to correct the publics epistemic and moral failings.
University of Haifa– Department of Philosophy. December 2020.
University of Adelaide – Public Engagement in Science and Technology Research Collaboratory. November 2020.
Dalhousie University– Department of Philosophy. November 2020.
University of Texas at San Antonio – Department of Philosophy. October 2020.
Washington University in Saint Louis – Department of Philosophy. October 2020.
University Nationale Autonomous de Mexico – Department of Philosophy. September 2020.
Eastern Carolina University – “Dialogues in Humanities” public panel. September 2020.
Free, public panel discussion addressing these themes: "Culture Wars" - why are vaccines and masks such political flash points? What does public resistance to scientifically backed recommendations regarding vaccines and masks tell us about the relationship of the publics to science? What social and political circumstances would make vaccination decision-making easier? What role can the social and behavioral sciences play in the COVID-19 response. Panelists: Dr. Eric Bailey, Anthropology, ECU, Dr. Alan Christensen, Psychology, ECU, Dr. Maya Goldenberg, Philosophy, The University of Guelph, and Dr. Andrea Kitta, English, ECU.
