Lecture: How (Should) We Research Policy that Saves Lives? Approaching the War on Smoking

A talk by Prof. Simone Dennis, Australian National University (for the accompanying workshop by the same title, please see the separate announcement)

Date: 30 March 2017
Time: 18.15 h to 20.00 h
Location: Room 3.B48

Although tobacco is a legal substance, governments around the world have introduced legislation to restrict smoking and access to tobacco products. Many legislative changes have been ushered in, from the increasing numbers of places being designated as 'smokefree' to changes in cigarette packaging and the portrayal of smoking in popular culture. These changes have marked up an increasingly polarized atmosphere – either you are for smoking, or against it. In academia, this polarity has translated into examinations of discourses either concerned with the erosion of individual rights, or the advancement of a life-saving public health agenda. Examining the changes in legislation themselves, and the way they have been approached in scholarly work gives us great insight into how anthropologists, particularly, have approached smoking. Yet this talk is also aimed at a general audience, scholars from the fields of anthropology, sociology, political science, cultural studies, philosophy, economics, and health sciences as well as public health specialists. For further details regarding the talk and Prof. Dennis, please have a look at the flyer.