Loneliness and Covid

I have started to read a book by Davies and friends – ‘Unprecedented’. Their argument is that trends in society have been exacerbated and revealed by the pandemic so these trends have become clearer. In an earlier blog, I talked about authoritarian states and the production of loneliness and I found echoes of this inContinue reading “Loneliness and Covid”

Where have all the ideas gone?

We seem to be living through a series of political and economic crises. Liz Truss, our last leader, galloped back into the Thachterite past without much regard for our current troubles. It seemed too much to expect this politician to consider current suffering as she and her chancellor inflicted more in the name of ‘growth’.Continue reading “Where have all the ideas gone?”

Misinformation, Propaganda and Conspiracy Theories

The WHO declared recently that there was an infodemic relating to Covid. Public health officials expressed worries about the amount of misinformation and conspiracy theories on social media platforms and alarmed at what people were prepared to believe. This has led to a refusal to take a vaccine and demonstrations against lockdown measures designed toContinue reading “Misinformation, Propaganda and Conspiracy Theories”

Bringing in Critical Theory

In a recent forum about research, a small group discussed critical thinking/theory in relation to a review that a colleague was developing as regards to grief (a very current topic!).  There was some confusion as to what we mean by critical thinking/theory. As researchers reviewing evidence,  I think  we mean critical thinking as an applicationContinue reading “Bringing in Critical Theory”

Interdependence

I have come across this term quite frequently recently. Firstly, it came up when I was considering help seeking by women dealing with domestic violence. I read an interesting article, written as an exploration of the disabled sector fight for independence. The author (Reindal 1999) identified ’embeddedness’ (i.e. being part of a supportive network) andContinue reading “Interdependence”