Work

Follow the science? On the marginal role of the social sciences in the COVID-19 pandemic

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: In this paper, we use the case of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe to address the question of what kind of knowledge we should incorporate into public health policy. We show that policy-making during the COVID-19 pandemic has been biomedicine-centric in that its evidential basis marginalised input from non-biomedical disciplines. We then argue that in particular the social sciences could contribute essential expertise and evidence to public health policy in times of biomedical emergencies and that we should thus strive for a tighter integration of the social sciences in future evidence-based policy-making. This demand faces challenges on different levels, which we identify and discuss as potential inhibitors for a more pluralistic evidential basis.

Source: European Journal for Philosophy of Science

DOI: 10.1007/s13194-021-00416-y

Authors: Simon Lohse, Stefano Canali

Institutions: Leibniz University Hannover, University of Johannesburg, University of Lübeck, Politecnico di Milano

Language: English

Topic: Social Science and Policy Research

Subfield: General Social Sciences

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,780

Funders: Volkswagen Foundation, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover, Universität zu Lübeck, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft