Powerful Concepts in Global Health; Comment on “Knowledge, Moral Claims and the Exercise of Power in Global Health”

In this paper we emphasize the importance of questioning the global validity of significant concepts underpinning global health policy. This implies questioning the concept of global health as such and accepting that there is no global definition of the global. Further, we draw attention to ‘quality’ and ‘empowerment’ as examples of world-forming concepts. These concepts are exemplary for the gentle and quiet forms of power that underpin our reasoning within global health

Narratives and evidence – which stories about COVID-19 did we believe and why?

Rigorous empirical evidence is often presumed to be the most persuasive, notably in fields such as healthcare and medicine, where there are established frameworks for assessing the quality of evidence. In this post, Eivind Engebretsen and Mona Baker argue for the importance of narrative rationality, especially in areas where expertise is contested. Drawing on work from their forthcoming book and taking the COVID-19 pandemic as an exemplary case, they point to how the narrative structure and context of evidence are closely related to how knowledge is communicated and adopted by different audiences

Accreditation and Power - A discourse analysis of a new regime of governance in higher education

This article studies discourses within the accreditation of Norwegian higher education conducted by the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT), using one concrete case (the accreditation of bachelor programs in nursing). Analysis of policy documents and accreditation reports are influenced by two of Foucault’s concepts of power; governmentality and panopticon. The analysis provides insights into firstly, how the two forms of power are woven into the schemes used for quality control by redefining quality to be a quantifiable concept; secondly, how the supervision of quality gives privilege to specific types of knowledge; thirdly, how supervisory power is reformulated to require self-control mechanisms within higher education in terms of constant quality development and realization of unexploited potentials; and fourthly, how this power legitimates itself by making all parties guardians of quality control, deconstructing the difference between evaluator and evaluated

Stories of Hope: Young People’s Personal Narratives About ADHD Put Into Context of Positive Aspects

There is a growing acceptance that ADHD is a multi-dimensional disorder in which not all symptoms are associated with deficits or functional impairments. This article contributes to research on the positive aspects of the diagnosis, specifically understanding the positive aspects of living with ADHD. The empirical data was based on individual interviews and self-narratives of 10 young adults with ADHD. Narrative analysis was implemented when investigating their stories. The findings showed that challenges with the diagnosis were not necessarily stably occupied, and for some, the diagnosis was thought of as a benefit and something they would not have been without. Four stories highlighted particularly the context of positive aspects: (1) insight and strategies, (2) targeted efforts, (3) balanced energy, and (4) social skills. These aspects were correlated to both the individual’s strengths as well as the strengths and support that could be related to their societal and cultural environment.publishedVersio

Epistemologies of evidence-based medicine:a plea for corpus-based conceptual research in the medical humanities

Evidence-based medicine has been the subject of much controversy within and outside the field of medicine, with its detractors characterizing it as reductionist and authoritarian, and its proponents rejecting such characterization as a caricature of the actual practice. At the heart of this controversy is a complex linguistic and social process that cannot be illuminated by appealing to the semantics of the modifier evidence-based. The complexity lies in the nature of evidence as a basic concept that circulates in both expert and non-expert spheres of communication, supports different interpretations in different contexts, and is inherently open to contestation. We outline a new methodology that combines a social epistemological perspective with advanced methods of corpus linguistics and elements of conceptual history to investigate this and other basic concepts that underpin the practice and ethos of modern medicine. The potential of this methodology to offer new insights into controversies such as those surrounding EBM is demonstrated through a case study of the various meanings supported by evidence and based, as attested in a large electronic corpus of online material written by non-experts as well as a variety of experts in different fields, including medicine

Et nederlagsnarrativ

I denne artikkelen forsøkes det ved hjelp av en narrativ analyse å svare på spørsmålet; hva er en god nederlagstale? Hva var det for eksempel som gjorde talen den amerikanske presidenkantidaten McCain holdt da han tapte valget i 2008, til en suksess? Talen er møtt med lovord verden over, fra tilhengere til motstandere. Artikkelen argumenterer for at det vel så mye er formen som innholdet som gjør talen god. Artikkelen viser at det er ved hjelp av narrative komponenter og plott McCain taler sitt nederlag til seier? Det vises hvordan konstituering av ulike fortellerstemmer virker dels samlende dels ansvarliggjørende. Og hvordan handlinger og hendelser, blir hjelpere og mostandere i McCains nederlagsseier. Gode nederlag er av stor sosial betydning, dette nederlaget er for eksempel en oppvisning av et av demokratiets viktigste prinsipper, ââ¬Âat man skal tape med stilââ¬Â

Toward a Values-Informed Approach to Complexity in Health Care:Hermeneutic Review

Policy Points The concept of value complexity (complexity arising from differences in people's worldviews, interests, and values, leading to mistrust, misunderstanding, and conflict among stakeholders) is introduced and explained. Relevant literature from multiple disciplines is reviewed. Key theoretical themes, including power, conflict, language and framing, meaning-making, and collective deliberation, are identified. Simple rules derived from these theoretical themes are proposed.</p

Translating COVID-19: From Contagion to Containment

AbstractThis article tests the hypothesis that all pandemics are inherently translational. We argue that translation and translation theory can be fruitfully used to understand and manage epidemics, as they help us explore concepts of infectivity and immunity in terms of cultural and biological resistance. After examining the linkage between translation and coronavirus disease from three different yet interlinked perspectives—cultural, medical, and biocultural—we make a case for a translational medical humanities framework for tackling the multifactorial crisis brought about by the SARS-CoV-2 infection. This innovative entanglement of perspectives has the merit of carving out a new space for translation research at the intersection of the sciences and the humanities, providing sustainable ways to conceptualize the production of science at times of crisis, and challenging conventional views of translation as a primarily linguistic and cultural phenomenon that traditionally does not engage with science.</jats:p

From evidence-based to sustainable healthcare: Cochrane revisited

Evidence-based healthcare is the prevailing model for healthcare services. In Cochrane's seminal thinking, political context was included with the purpose of promoting healthcare equity. However, the subsequent evidence-based healthcare models marginalized political context. In this paper, we argue that current models of evidence-based healthcare fail to respond to emerging healthcare challenges. We claim that reintegration of political context is crucial to make healthcare sustainable. Global communities are anticipating ecological crises with immense repercussions for healthcare. This prospect illustrates that healthcare models failing to integrate political context also risk neglecting some of the most relevant healthcare issues of our time.publishedVersio

Politics and Power in Global Health: The Constituting Role of Conflicts Comment on “Navigating Between Stealth Advocacy and Unconscious Dogmatism: The Challenge of Researching the Norms, Politics and Power of Global Health”

In a recent article, Gorik Ooms has drawn attention to the normative underpinnings of the politics of global health. We claim that Ooms is indirectly submitting to a liberal conception of politics by framing the politics of global health as a question of individual morality. Drawing on the theoretical works of Chantal Mouffe, we introduce a conflictual concept of the political as an alternative to Ooms’ conception. Using controversies surrounding medical treatment of AIDS patients in developing countries as a case we underline the opportunity for political changes, through political articulation of an issue, and collective mobilization based on such an articulation