Author: Robert Dingwall

Robert Dingwall is an emeritus professor of sociology at Nottingham Trent University. He also serves as a consulting sociologist, providing research and advisory services particularly in relation to organizational strategy, public engagement and knowledge transfer. He is co-editor of the SAGE Handbook of Research Management.

COVID-19, Masks and Magical Thinking
News
October 25, 2021

COVID-19, Masks and Magical Thinking

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Covid-19: How to Learn the Lessons of Policy Failure
Public Policy
October 25, 2021

Covid-19: How to Learn the Lessons of Policy Failure

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Traditional Chinese Medicine and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Public Policy
September 8, 2021

Traditional Chinese Medicine and the COVID-19 Pandemic

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COVID Science and Politics – the Case of Face Masks
Public Policy
August 23, 2021

COVID Science and Politics – the Case of Face Masks

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Florence Nightingale at Home (with COVID-19)

Florence Nightingale at Home (with COVID-19)

A conspicuous feature of the pandemic has been the idealization of the home as a place of safety and refuge.

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COVID Variants – Time to Stop Jumping at Shadows

COVID Variants – Time to Stop Jumping at Shadows

When variant forms of COVID appear, argues Robert Dingwall, we must, then, learn not to jump at shadows. No-one can ever say there will never be a risk – but everyday life is full of much more common risks that we tolerate because of the benefits that they deliver.

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The Insufferable Smugness of Working from Home

The Insufferable Smugness of Working from Home

Back in the day, I attended one of those schools where male character was thought to be formed by endless afternoons of […]

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COVID-19: Blood on Whose Hands?

COVID-19: Blood on Whose Hands?

Lessons will be learned from this pandemic and it is right that there should be inquiries to spell them out. It will not, however, be helpful to see this as a partisan exercise in blaming individuals for acting within the limits of what was possible in systems that others had designed for very different purposes.

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Resisting the Biosecurity State

Resisting the Biosecurity State

These are extraordinary times, and not just because we are coming through the greatest national trauma since the Second World War. The […]

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Vaccine Passports, Governments, and Adult Movies

Vaccine Passports, Governments, and Adult Movies

Immunity certification for adult movies developed in California during the late 1990s, after a serious outbreak of HIV among the performers. Robert Dingwall examines the model in light of calls for a coronavirus passport system for the vaccinated.

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Opinion: We Must Resist the Powerful Voices Arguing for Zero COVID

Opinion: We Must Resist the Powerful Voices Arguing for Zero COVID

Do we treat the coronavirus as an ordinary risk of life, much as we do with the other 30 respiratory viruses that have infected humans throughout history? Or do we try to eliminate the virus from the UK altogether – the so-called Zero COVID approach?

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No One Can Ensure Total Safety… We Must Fight Pandemic of FEAR

No One Can Ensure Total Safety… We Must Fight Pandemic of FEAR

With this pandemic, argues Robert Dingwall, fear amplification has been policy, based on the advice of a particular group of behavioral scientists advising the United Kingdom’s government.

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