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States of Prevention and the Politics of Vaccines

When: —
Venue: Online

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States of Prevention and the Politics of Vaccines

Dr Dora Vargha (Exeter) in conversation with Dr Sarah Marks (Birkbeck)

(this event was scheduled for 18 May but had to be postponed until 9 June)

There finally seems to be an endpoint to the epidemic crisis in sight, as multiple vaccines are rolled out with great fanfare across the world. However, despite the powerful imagery of rocket launches and moonshots, achieving a vaccine that is proven to be safe and efficient in the laboratory and in controlled trials is but one point in the extended temporalities of vaccination. Historical analysis helps us to understand vaccines as integrated technologies, at the intersection of trust, politics and materialities and highlights the role of international collaboration and tensions in pandemic management. Through the development of competing polio vaccines in the middle of a geopolitical competition, this talk addresses the relationship between science and politics at the local, national and global level.

The event is free but you need to book so we can send you information on how to join. 

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This event is part of the Department of History, Classics and Archaeology's Discover the Past events series, open to the public and students. To see the full list of events, visit the Discover the Past web page.

The Department of History, Classics and Archaeology at Birkbeck has a distinguished tradition as an international centre of excellence. We are the only university department in London to include archaeologists, classicists and historians investigating every period from prehistory to the early twenty-first century. Join us to discover the past and engage with the present across continents and cultures.

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