Comments on: When pigs flu: the social life of pandemics http://blog.thefuturescompany.com/2009/04/28/when-pigs-flu-the-social-life-of-pandemics/ Bite-size thoughts from TFC people about trends, futures and cultural change to provoke and entertain Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:57:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Joe B http://blog.thefuturescompany.com/2009/04/28/when-pigs-flu-the-social-life-of-pandemics/#comment-326 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:20:30 +0000 http://blog.thefuturescompany.com/?p=1009#comment-326 Interesting (and timely!) post Alex. What particularly strikes me is the way in which the ‘flu story has been picked up by the commentators and the press who (while doubtless well versed in epidemiology and pandemic management) immediately filtered through their particular political or cultural biases: so the FT tells us that it’s likely to have an impact on the markets (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5e14bce6-33bd-11de-83af-00144feabdc0,s01=1.html), Mike Davies (a Californian Marxist Professor – not a phrase you hear every day) tells us it’s all about the power of global capital (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/27/swine-flu-mexico-health) the Green MEP Caroline Lucas tells us it’s about industrialised agriculture (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/28/swine-flu-intensive-farming-caroline-lucas), while The Sun, naturally, has a splendid pun (“Pigs ‘Ear”). By this time tomorrow, I’d imagine that Richard Littlejohn will be blaming the whole thing on Gordon Brown, single mothers and political correctness gone mad.

The point isn’t whether these perspectives are right or wrong. Rather, given the lack of tangible evidence or information about how (or if) this epidemic develops, what the comments primarily reveal is the biases of the commentators themselves.

]]> By: Common Parlance » Blog Archive » When pigs flu: the social life of pandemics http://blog.thefuturescompany.com/2009/04/28/when-pigs-flu-the-social-life-of-pandemics/#comment-316 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:56:24 +0000 http://blog.thefuturescompany.com/?p=1009#comment-316 [...] post on the social and economic drivers of pandemics (and our fear of them) appears on the blogFutures [...]

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