Affect and Biotechnological Change: Three Vaccine Debates in Europe

The project explores the role of collective emotions in biotechnological change, that is, how biotechnologies become contested, rejected, accepted or routinized. The question is addressed through three ongoing vaccine debates in Europe: 1) the connection between the 2009 H1N1 ("swine flu") vaccine Pandemrix and narcolepsy; 2) the extension of HPV vaccination programmes to boys; and 3) expectations and perceptions of different Covid vaccines. The project suggests that emotionally charged public responses to vaccines arise from how vaccines reshape differences such as gender, sexuality, ethnicity, class, age and disability. The project uses four types of data: 1) bioscientific and public health articles on vaccines, 2) national and EU-level institutional reports and official vaccine communication, 3) media material, and 4) blog posts and online discussion forums. The data is approached through qualitative textual methods.