Smart, A., Williams, R., Weiner, K. orcid.org/0000-0002-5115-8866 et al. (2 more authors) (2024) Ethico-racial positioning in campaigns for COVID-19 research and vaccination featuring public figures. Sociology of Health and Illness, 46 (5). pp. 984-1003. ISSN 0141-9889
Abstract
This paper analyses a set of videos which featured public figures encouraging racially minoritised people in the UK to take the COVID-19 vaccine or get involved in related research. As racially targeted health communication has both potentially beneficial and problematic consequences, it is important to examine this uniquely high-profile case. Using a purposive sample of 10 videos, our thematic content analysis aimed to reveal how racially minoritised people were represented and the types of concerns about the vaccine that were expressed. We found representations of racialised difference that centred on ‘community’ and invoked shared social experiences. The expressed concerns centred on whether ethnic difference was accounted for in the vaccine’s design and development, plus the overarching issue of trust. Our analysis adopts and develops the concept of ‘racialisation’; we explore how ‘mutuality’ underpinned normative calls to action (‘ethico-racial imperatives’) and how the videos ‘responsibilised’ racially minoritised people. We discuss two points of tension in this case: the limitations for addressing the causes of mistrust and the risks of reductivism that accompanied the ambiguous notion of community. Our analysis develops scholarship on racialisation in health contexts and provides public health practitioners with insights into the socio-political considerations of racially targeted communications.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. Except as otherwise noted, this author-accepted version of a journal article published in Sociology of Health & Illness is made available via the University of Sheffield Research Publications and Copyright Policy under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Keywords: | COVID-19; ethnicity; media; public; health race; racialisation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 20 Dec 2023 12:37 |
Last Modified: | 27 Sep 2024 13:55 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/1467-9566.13748 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:206714 |
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Filename: accepted SHI submission 2023 ethico-racial COVID.pdf
Licence: CC-BY 4.0