IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socres/v6y2001i3p83-88.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From Smart Bombs to Smart Bugs: Thinking the Unthinkable in Medical Sociology and Beyond

Author

Listed:
  • Simon Williams

Abstract

Steve Fuller's article on the events of September 11th raises a number of important questions about the role of sociology in public discussion and debate. This brief response, in taking up this challenge, focuses on the issue of bio-terrorism. In doing so, a balance sheet is provided of the potential threat this poses, drawing both on the history of biological and chemical weapons to date, and the potential epidemics of fear they unleash in the aftermath of September 11th. Medical sociology, it is argued, alongside the sociology of emotions, is particularly well placed to address such issues, including questions of the biological and broader themes of war and health, medicine and the military.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Williams, 2001. "From Smart Bombs to Smart Bugs: Thinking the Unthinkable in Medical Sociology and Beyond," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 6(3), pages 83-88, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:6:y:2001:i:3:p:83-88
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.639
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.5153/sro.639
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5153/sro.639?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steve Fuller, 2001. "Looking for Sociology after 11 September," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 6(2), pages 120-124, August.
    2. Steve Fuller, 2001. "Looking for Sociology after 11 September," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 6(3), pages 19-24, November.
    3. Crawford, Robert, 1994. "The boundaries of the self and the unhealthy other: Reflections on health, culture and AIDS," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 1347-1365, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Joyce Canaan, 2002. "Teaching Social Theory in Trying Times," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 6(4), pages 14-27, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chris Rumford, 2001. "Confronting ‘Uncivil Society’ and the ‘Dark Side of Globalization’: Are Sociological Concepts up to the Task?," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 6(3), pages 101-104, November.
    2. Petersen, Alan, 2006. "The best experts: The narratives of those who have a genetic condition," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 32-42, July.
    3. Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko & Joanna Poczta, 2018. "Running as a Form of Therapy Socio-Psychological Functions of Mass Running Events for Men and Women," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-15, October.
    4. Billings, Katie R. & Cort, David A. & Rozario, Tannuja D. & Siegel, Derek P., 2021. "HIV stigma beliefs in context: Country and regional variation in the effects of instrumental stigma beliefs on protective sexual behaviors in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Southern Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    5. Hannah Farrimond, 2023. "Stigma Mutation: Tracking Lineage, Variation and Strength in Emerging COVID-19 Stigma," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 28(1), pages 171-188, March.
    6. Malchrowicz-Mośko Ewa & Poczta Joanna, 2019. "Motivations for Running in Men: A Comparative Analysis of Local Runners and Sports Tourists," Turyzm / Tourism, Sciendo, vol. 29(2), pages 69-79, December.
    7. Peretti-Watel, Patrick & Moatti, Jean-Paul, 2006. "Understanding risk behaviours: How the sociology of deviance may contribute? The case of drug-taking," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 675-679, August.
    8. Childerhose, Janet E. & MacDonald, Margaret E., 2013. "Health consumption as work: The home pregnancy test as a domesticated health tool," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-8.
    9. Campbell, Chadwick K., 2021. "Structural and intersectional biographical disruption: The case of HIV disclosure among a sample of black gay and bisexual men," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    10. Joanna Poczta & Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko, 2018. "Modern Running Events in Sustainable Development—More than Just Taking Care of Health and Physical Condition (Poznan Half Marathon Case Study)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, June.
    11. Ewa Malchrowicz-Mośko & Joanna Poczta & Katarzyna Adamczewska, 2019. "The Potential of Non-Mega Sporting Events for the Promotion of Physical Activity Among Inactive Supporters at the Poznan Half Marathon: A Case Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-12, October.
    12. Eichelberger, Laura, 2007. "SARS and New York's Chinatown: The politics of risk and blame during an epidemic of fear," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 1284-1295, September.
    13. Wight, Richard G. & Aneshensel, Carol S. & Murphy, Debra A. & Miller-Martinez, Dana & Beals, Kristin P., 2006. "Perceived HIV stigma in AIDS caregiving dyads," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 444-456, January.
    14. Izquierdo, Carolina, 2005. "When "health" is not enough: societal, individual and biomedical assessments of well-being among the Matsigenka of the Peruvian Amazon," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 767-783, August.
    15. Cort, David A. & Tu, Hsin Fei, 2018. "Safety in stigmatizing? Instrumental stigma beliefs and protective sexual behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 144-152.
    16. McMullin, Juliet, 2005. "The call to life: revitalizing a healthy Hawaiian identity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(4), pages 809-820, August.
    17. Persson, Asha & Newman, Christy, 2006. "Potency and vulnerability: Troubled 'selves' in the context of antiretroviral therapy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(6), pages 1586-1596, September.
    18. Heikkinen, Hanne & Patja, Kristiina & Jallinoja, Piia, 2010. "Smokers' accounts on the health risks of smoking: Why is smoking not dangerous for me?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(5), pages 877-883, September.
    19. Campbell, Catherine & Skovdal, Morten & Mupambireyi, Zivai & Gregson, Simon, 2010. "Exploring children's stigmatisation of AIDS-affected children in Zimbabwe through drawings and stories," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(5), pages 975-985, September.
    20. Freeman, Emily, 2016. "Understanding HIV-related stigma in older age in rural Malawi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 35-43.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:6:y:2001:i:3:p:83-88. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.