Uncertainty, Fear and Action. A Critical Commentary on Patrik Aspers’ Book

Andy Alaszewski

doi:10.6092/issn.1971-8853/20391

Authors

Andy Alaszewski University of Kent https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6312-7306

Andy Alaszewski is an Emeritus Professor of Health Studies at the University of Kent (United Kingdom). He is an applied social scientist who has researched the ways in which policy decisions are made and implemented, and the role and nature of risk in health and social care. He is the founding Editor of Health, Risk & Society, an international peer-reviewed journal published by Taylor & Francis. He is (co)author of Risk, Safety and Clinical Practice (Oxford University Press, 2010), Making Health Policy: A Critical Introduction (Polity Press, 2012), and Managing Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Policy Press, 2023).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/20391

Keywords:

Uncertainty, fear, trust, COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

In this critical commentary of Patrik Aspers’ book, I consider some of his assumptions that uncertainty is a universal human challenge that can be addressed through systems of mutual adjustments. I argue that a broad approach to risk that acknowledges both its rational knowledge and non-rational elements such as emotion, and combines future orientation with interrogation of the past, provides a way of understanding strategies for managing uncertainty. I consider the ways such an approach can be applied to a real-world case-study, the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

Alaszewska, J., & Alaszewski, A. (2015). Purity and Danger: Shamans, Diviners and the Control of Danger in Premodern Japan as Evidenced by the Healing Rites of the Aogashima Islanders. In P. Brown (Ed.), Theories of Uncertainty and Risk across Different Modernities. London: Routledge.

Alaszewski, A. (2020). Should Pregnant Women Be in a High Risk COVID-19 Category?. British Journal of Midwifery, 28(10), 732–734. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjom.2020.28.10.732

Alaszewski, A. (2023). Managing Risk during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Global Policies, Narratives and Practices. Bristol: Policy Press.

Alaszewski, A. (2024). Social and Cultural Anthropology and the Study of Blame. In M. Flinders, G. Dimova, M. Hinterleitner, R.A.W. Rhodes, & R.K. Weaver (Eds.), The Politics and Governance of Blame (pp. 182–206). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Alaszewski, A., & Burgess, A. (2007). Risk, Time and Reason. Health, Risk & Society, 9(4), 349–358. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698570701612295

Armitage, R., & Stein, L. (2020). Did Taiwan’s Mistrust of China Save It from a Potential Coronavirus Disaster?. ABC News, 29 May. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-30/taiwans-coronavirus-strategy-healthcare-and-location-data/12296948

Armstrong-Hough, M.J. (2015). Performing Prevention: Risk, Responsibility, and Reorganizing the Future in Japan During the H1N1 Pandemic. Health, Risk & Society, 17(3–4), 285–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2015.1090558

Aspers, P. (2024). Uncertainty: Individuals Problems and Public Solutions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bauman, Z. (2006). Liquid Fear. Cambridge: Polity.

BBC. (2020). Coronavirus: UK Tactics Defended as Cases Expected to Rise. BBC News, 10 March. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51812326

BRII (Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry). (2001). The Report of the Public Inquiry into Children’s Heart Surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary 1984–1995. Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry, July. https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20090811143752/http://www.bristol-inquiry.org.uk/final_report/rpt_print.htm

Brown, P., & de Graaf, S. (2013). Considering a Future Which May not Exist: The Construction of Time and Expectations amidst Advanced-Stage Cancer. Health, Risk & Society, 15(6–7), 543–560. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2013.830081

Calvert, J., & Arbuthnott, G. (2021). Failures of State: The Inside Story of Britain’s Battle with Coronavirus. London: Mudlark.

Cheng, T.M. (2021). How Has Taiwan Navigated the Pandemic?. Economics Observatory, 1 December. https://www.economicsobservatory.com/how-has-taiwan-navigated-the-pandemic

COVID-19 Public Inquiry. (2024). Module 2 Closing Statement on Behalf of Government Office for Science. COVID-19 Public Inquiry, 30 January. https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/18172626/INQ000252610_0042-0043.pdf

Craft, L. (2020). Japan Has Long Accepted COVID’s Airborne Spread, and Scientists Say Ventilation is Key. CBS News, 13 July. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-japan-has-long-accepted-covids-airborne-spread-and-scientists-say-ventilation-is-key

Cummings, D. (2021). First Sketch of Plan B, PM Study. Twitter, [Dominic Cummings], 26 May. https://twitter.com/Dominic2306/status/1397452170249842691/photo/1

Douglas, M. (1966). Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Douglas, M. (1990). Risk as a Forensic Resource. DAEDALUS, 119(4), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429284243-1

Editors (2021). COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic. The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness & Response. New Zealand Science Review, 77(1–2), 19. https://doi.org/10.26686/nzsr.v77i1-2.7752

Enserink, M. (2023). Dispute Simmers over Who First Shared SARS-CoV-2’s Genome. Science, 29 Mar. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adi1218

Erkhembayar, R., Dickinson, E., Badarch, D., Narula I., Warburton D., Thomas G.I., Ochir C., & Manaseki-Holland, S. (2020). Early Policy Actions and Emergency Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mongolia: Experiences and Challenges. Lancet Global Health, 8(9), e1234–e1241. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(20)30295-3

Evans-Pritchard, E.E. (1937). Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande. Oxford: Clarendon.

Flinders, M., Degerman, D., & Johnson, M. (2024). Introduction: Towards a New Politics of Fear. In D. Degerman, M. Flinders & M. Johnson (Eds.), COVID-19 and the Politics of Fear (pp. 1–13). Bristol: Bristol University Press. https://doi.org/10.56687/9781529242904-003

Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and Self-Identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge: Polity.

Government of Japan, The. (2020). Views on the Novel Coronavirus Disease Control. The Government of Japan, Expert Meeting, 9 March. https://www.mhlw.go.jp/content/10900000/000608425.pdf

Graham, M. (2020). Trump Calls Dr. Anthony Fauci an “Idiot”, Considers Firing Him. uPolitics, 19 October. https://upolitics.com/news/trump-calls-dr-anthony-fauci-an-idiot/

Green, J., Draper, A., & Dowler, E. (2003). Short Cuts to Safety: Risk and “Rule of Thumb” in Accounts of Food Choice. Health, Risk & Society, 5(1), 33–52. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369857031000065998

Greenhalgh, T., Ozbilgin, M., & Contandriopoulos, D. (2021). Orthodoxy, Illusion, and Playing the Scientific Game: A Bourdieusian Analysis of Infection Control Science in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Wellcome Open Research, 6(126). https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16855.3

Hallowell, N. (2006). Varieties of Suffering: Living with the Risk of Ovarian Cancer. Health, Risk & Society, 8(1), 9–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698570500532322

Honigsbaum, M. (2020). The Pandemic Century: A History of Global Contagion from the Spanish Flu to COVID-19. London: Penguin Random House.

House of Commons, Science and Technology Committee. (2016). Science in Emergencies: UK Lessons from Ebola, Second Report of Session 2015–2016. House of Commons, 13 January. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201516/cmselect/cmsctech/469/469.pdf

House of Commons, Science and Technology Committee, Health and Social Care Committee. (2020). Oral Evidence: Coronavirus: Lessons Learnt, HC 877. House of Commons, 2 December. https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/1323/pdf/

Hseih, Y.H., Chen, C.W.S., & Hsu, S.B. (2004). SARS Outbreak, Taiwan, 2003. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 10(2), 201–206. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid1002.030515

Independent Panel, The. (2021). COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic. The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness & Response, May. https://theindependentpanel.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/COVID-19-Make-it-the-Last-Pandemic_final.pdf

John Hopkins University. (2023). Mortality Analyses. Corona Virus Resources, 3 October. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality

Kakimoto, K., Kamiya, H., Yamagishi, T., Matsui, T., Suzuki M., & Wakita, T. (2020). Initial Investigation of Transmission of COVID-19 among Crew Members During Quarantine of a Cruise Ship. Yokohama, Japan, February 2020. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (CDC), 69(11), 312–313. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6911e2

Kodoma, S., Campbell, M., Tanaka, M., & Inoue, Y. (2022). Understanding Japan’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Medical Ethics, 48(3), 173. https://doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2022-108189

Kuo, L. (2020). Coronavirus: Panic and Anger in Wuhan as China Orders City into Lockdown. The Guardian, 23 Jan. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/23/coronavirus-panic-and-anger-in-wuhan-as-china-orders-city-into-lockdown

Learning from Bristol. (2002). The Department of Health’s Response to the Report of the Public Inquiry into Children’s Heart Surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary 1984–1995. Parliament by the Secretary of State for Health by Command of Her Majesty, CM 5363. London: TSO. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/273320/5363.pdf

Lowen, M. (2020a). Coronavirus: Quarantine Raises Virus Fears in Northern Italy. BBC News, 25 February. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51628084

Lowen, M. (2020b). Coronavirus: Italy Says 1,000 Have Died but Lockdown Can Work. BBC News, 12 March. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-51852320

McMullen, J. (2020). COVID-19: Five Days that Shaped the Outbreak. BBC News, 26 January. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-55756452

Nakazawa, E., Ino, H., & Akabayashi, A. (2020). Chronology of COVID-19 Cases on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship and Ethical Considerations: A Report From Japan. Disaster Medicine and Public Health, 24, 1–8, https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.50

Nippon.com (2023). Survey on COVID-19, May. Available at: https://www.nippon.com/ja/

Prime Minister’s Office of Japan. (2020). Second Meeting of the Novel Coronavirus Response Headquarters. Prime Minister’s Office of Japan, 31 January. https://japan.kantei.go.jp/98_abe/actions/202001/_00037.html

REV. (2020). Boris Johnson Coronavirus Speech Transcript: UK PM Tells UK to Avoid Non-Essential Travel and Contact. REV, 17 March. http://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/boris-johnson-coronavirus-speech-transcript-uk-pm-tells-uk-to-avoid-non-essential-travel-contact

Roy, D. (2020). Mongolians are Paranoid about China, and They Should Be, Pacific Forum Updates. PACNET, 17 October. https://pacforum.org/publications/pacnet-57-mongolians-are-paranoid-about-china-and-they-should-be/#:~:text=Many%20Mongolians%20fear%20China%20will,population%20of%20only%203%20million

Shuster, S. (2020). Contagion of Fear. One Month inside a New York Hospital as a Virus Took Over the World. Time, June, Special Report. https://time.com/wyckoff-hospital-brooklyn-coronavirus/

Sunstein, C.R. (2005). Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511790850

Taiwan CDC. (2018). NHCC. https://www.cdc.gov.tw/En/Category/MPage/gL7-bARtHyNdrDq882pJ9Q

Telegraph, The. (2020). 50 Years of Drink Driving Campaigns. The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/11215676/50-years-of-drink-driving-campaigns.html

Trump, D. (2020a). Full Transcript: Trump’s 2020 State of the Union Address. The New York Times, 5 February. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/us/politics/state-of-union-transcript.html

Trump, D. (2020b). Remarks by President Trump in Press Briefing. US Embassy & Consultes in Italy, April 14. https://it.usembassy.gov/remarks-by-president-trump-in-press-briefing-april-14-2020/

Wahliquist, C. (2021). Australian Ad Showing COVID Patient Gasping for Air “Could Increase Vaccine Hesitancy”. The Guardian, 12 July. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jul/12/australian-ad-showing-covid-patient-gasping-for-air-could-increase-vaccine-hesitancy

Wang, C.J., Ng, C.Y., & Brook, R.H. (2020). Response to COVID-19 in Taiwan: Big Data Analytics, New Technology, and Proactive Testing. JAMA, 323(14), 1341–1342. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.3151

Weaver, M. (2023). “Absence of Humanity”: Helen MacNamara’s Evidence to COVID Inquiry. The Guardian, 1 November. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/nov/01/absence-of-humanity-helen-macnamara-evidence-to-covid-inquiry

Wei, S.Q., Bilodeau-Betrand, M., Liu, S., & Auger, N. (2021). The Impact of COVID-19 on Pregnancy Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. CMAJ, 193(16), E540–E548. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.202604

Yamagata, M., Teraguchi, T., & Miura, A. (2023). Effects of Pathogen-Avoidance Tendency on Infection-Prevention Behaviors and Exclusionary Attitudes toward Foreigners: A Longitudinal Study of the COVID-19 Outbreak in Japan. Japanese Psychological Research, 65(2), 158–172. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpr.12377

Zinn, J.O. (2008). Heading into the Unknown: Everyday Strategies for Managing Risk and Uncertainty. Health, Risk & Society, 10(5), 439–450. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698570802380891

Zinn, J.O. (2016). “In-between” and Other Reasonable Ways to Deal with Risk and Uncertainty: A Review Article. Health, Risk & Society, 18(7–8), 348–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698575.2016.1269879

Uncertainty, Fear and Action. A Critical Commentary on Patrik Aspers’ Book

Authors

DOI:

Keywords:

Abstract

References

Downloads

Published

How to Cite

Issue

Section

License

Information

Make a Submission

Keywords

Current Issue