Blume Stuart
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, o.z. Achterburgwal 185, 1012 DK Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Soc Sci Med. 2006 Feb;62(3):628-42. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2005.06.020. Epub 2005 Jul 21.
Over the last two or three decades, growing numbers of parents in the industrialized world are choosing not to have their children vaccinated. In trying to explain why this is occurring, public health commentators refer to the activities of an anti-vaccination 'movement'. In the light of three decades of research on (new) social movements, what sense does it make to attribute decline in vaccination rates to the actions of an influential anti-vaccination movement? Two sorts of empirical data, drawn largely from UK and The Netherlands, are reviewed. These relate to the claims, actions and discourse of anti-vaccination groups on the one hand, and to the way parents of young children think about vaccines and vaccination on the other. How much theoretical sense it makes to view anti-vaccination groups as (new) social movement organizations (as distinct from pressure groups or self-help organizations) is as yet unclear. In any event there is no simple and unambiguous demarcation criterion. From a public health perspective, however, to focus attention on organized opponents of vaccination is appealing because it unites health professionals behind a banner of reason. At the same time it diverts attention from a potentially disruptive critique of vaccination practices; the critique in fact articulated by many parents. In the light of current theoretical discussion of 'scientific citizenship' this paper argues that identifying anti-vaccination groups with other social movements may ultimately have the opposite effect to that intended.
在过去二三十年里，工业化世界中越来越多的父母选择不给孩子接种疫苗。在试图解释为何会出现这种情况时，公共卫生评论家提到了一个反疫苗“运动”的活动。鉴于对（新）社会运动长达三十年的研究，将疫苗接种率下降归因于一个有影响力的反疫苗运动的行动有多大意义呢？本文回顾了两类主要来自英国和荷兰的实证数据。一方面，这些数据与反疫苗组织的主张、行动和话语有关；另一方面，与幼儿家长对疫苗和接种疫苗的看法有关。将反疫苗组织视为（新）社会运动组织（有别于压力团体或自助组织）在理论上有多大意义，目前尚不清楚。无论如何，不存在简单明确的划分标准。然而，从公共卫生的角度来看，将注意力集中在有组织的疫苗接种反对者身上很有吸引力，因为这能让卫生专业人员团结在理性的旗帜下。与此同时，它转移了人们对疫苗接种实践潜在颠覆性批评的注意力；事实上，许多家长都表达了这种批评。鉴于当前对“科学公民身份”的理论讨论，本文认为将反疫苗组织与其他社会运动等同起来最终可能会产生与预期相反的效果。
