From SARS to COVID-19: Rethinking Global Health Lessons from Taiwan

Soon, Wayne

doi:10.1215/18752160-8771307

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…En primer lugar, termina reduciendo el éxito de los países asiáticos a factores culturales -como la disciplina o el autoritarismo-atenuando otros aspectos como el aprendizaje colectivo derivado de la respuesta al SARS y MERS, que los llevó a invertir en preparación pandémica (infraestructura institucional, regulaciones, entre otras) 28 y responder precozmente ante la amenaza infecciosa. Al tratar de explicar la respuesta a través del autoritarismo se desatiende que las medidas sanitarias fueron implementadas también en democracias liberales como Taiwán, donde se toleraba el disenso político 29 . Incluso, muchas de estas medidas fueron legitimadas por la ciudadanía.…”

Section: Figura 1 Producto Axiológico En Base a Los Ejes Disciplina Y...unclassified

Orientalismo y respuesta sanitaria a la pandemia en Chile: un desafío cultural

Pacheco

2022

Rev. chil. salud pública

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

El siguiente artículo discute la influencia del orientalismo en la respuesta a la pandemia en Chile. Se define orientalismo como una construcción cultural binaria y excluyente donde se comprende a Oriente como lo opuesto a Occidente. Normativamente, este modelo considera Oriente como colectivista y Occidente como individualista. Utilizando la técnica análisis estructural de contenidos se observa que este modelo está presente en el discurso de autoridades sanitarias. En el discurso se plantea que el autoritarismo y la disciplina de los países asiáticos permitieron una respuesta efectiva a la pandemia. Asimismo, se plantea que el respeto a la libertad y la democracia hacen impracticable aplicar medidas similares en Occidente. Esta posición normativa antagónica resulta problemática ya que: (a) reduce el éxito de los países asiáticos a un factor cultural sin considerar su experiencia en brotes epidémicos previos, (b) contribuye a comprender las restricciones a la libertad durante una pandemia como algo “no Occidental”, generalizándose el autoritarismo a todos los países asiáticos y (c) reproduce pre-juicios xenofóbicos y racistas que habitualmente están exacerbados durante brotes epidémicos

show abstract

Section: Figura 1 Producto Axiológico En Base a Los Ejes Disciplina Y...unclassified

Orientalismo y respuesta sanitaria a la pandemia en Chile: un desafío cultural

Pacheco

2022

Rev. chil. salud pública

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…First let us review Taiwan’s success in keeping the Covid virus out. As historian of medicine Wayne Soon (2020) put it, this achievement was not just luck; it had to do with not only its evolution as a democratic polity but also its unique status in global health diplomacy. In brief, ruled by the Democratic Progress Party (DPP) that replaced the pro-Beijing Kuomintang government in 2000, Taiwan was wary of epidemics originating from China, especially after its experience fighting SARS in 2003.…”

Section: What Was Behind a Successful Anti-covid Story? Retrospective...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The central/municipal relationship was also in the spotlight. Soon (2020) was right that Taiwan had learned a lesson not to make Covid a local affair but instead one where the central government should take the lead. However, as the situation was about to become out of control, cracks appeared.…”

Section: Incubating Post-truth Discourses: Turning Expert Debates Int...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Let us take Wayne Soon as an example. Back in 2020, Soon contributed to EASTS, a timely essay that summarised what Taiwan had learned from its previous experiences in terms of epidemic governance (Soon, 2020). However, by taking a serious look at rumour and gossip I have showed in this paper that the Taiwanese people might not yet have learned how to work with their government in fighting disease.…”

Section: A Post-truth Normal? Democracy and Expertise Defendedmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Channeling Facts, Crouching Rumours: Taiwan’s Post-Truth Encounter with the Covid Pandemic

Kuo

2021

Science, Technology and Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study examines the confrontation between Taiwan and Covid in the period before the virus finally invaded and spread widely on the island in May 2021. While the general approach to Taiwan’s success in keeping the virus out is historical, stating the policy lessons learned from previous anti-pandemic experience, the study focuses on how these coping strategies were able to be made and conducted with little disruption from misinformation and conspiracy theories. Inspired by Sheila Jasanoff’s notion of how science and technology are received through different political and policy systems, and by Bruno Latour’s semiotic reflections on the actor-network theory, the STS take on post-truth politics here is institutional and discursive: instead of focusing on the scientific and the misleading in individual policies, I provide an ethnography of rumour and scientific discourse on Covid, capturing their interactions and net effects in the context of policy discussions. Following closely the daily press conferences held by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), the only official information source for the Covid pandemic, I argue that discursive frames were made upon the limited information given and few confirmed cases found. Through the expert authority and ‘what if?’ scenarios seen at these conferences, Taiwan’s anti-Covid policies came to be presented as a narrative on crises and what the government was doing to get over them, and rumours were either ignored or marginalised. Meanwhile, though disputes and speculations on pandemic control did exist among experts, they only surfaced after the local outbreak, whereupon conspiracy theories flared up, challenging the already exhausted CECC. Together, the excessive information by experts, health professionals, policy analysists and talkshow hosts composes a ‘post-truth normal’ that has started to place Taiwan’s democracy and its trust in expertise on trial.

show abstract

The ‘pan’ of Pandemics: Why Asian Approaches Matter

Messner

2023

Medizin, Kultur, Gesellschaft

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

From SARS to COVID-19: Rethinking Global Health Lessons from Taiwan

Cited by 6 publications

References 4 publications

Orientalismo y respuesta sanitaria a la pandemia en Chile: un desafío cultural

Orientalismo y respuesta sanitaria a la pandemia en Chile: un desafío cultural

Channeling Facts, Crouching Rumours: Taiwan’s Post-Truth Encounter with the Covid Pandemic

The ‘pan’ of Pandemics: Why Asian Approaches Matter

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About