Prof Alan Petersen - Researcher Profile

Alan Petersen

Address

School of Political & Social Inquiry
Faculty of Arts, Clayton

Biography

What future do we want? 

Professor Alan Petersen believes a lack of effective community consultation over the development and use of new technologies undermines Australia's democratic system. The leading sociologist wants the broader population to begin to seriously consider how we want our future shaped.

 

Alan is at the forefront of debate over the connection and communication between science and publics. As an author, researcher and policy adviser in Australia and Britain he has studied the ways science and technology shape our everyday lives for more than 20 years.

He is a member of the Gene Technology Regulator’s Ethics and Community Consultative Committee (Department of Health and Aging). He also recently served on the National Enabling Technology Strategy’s Stakeholder Advisory Council (Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) (2011-2012).

His research covers aspects of health and illness, ageing and gender, and more recently the role new technologies – especially biomedical technologies – play in forming our perceptions of the future.

"There is an uncritical expectation in this country that science and technology are going to save many problems," Alan says.

"Discussion about and planning for the future often begins from the premise that we have or will soon have these new technologies, so how can we use them. I would argue it should be the other way around, beginning with discussion about what kind of society we want and then what role technologies may or may not play in this future."

His most recent work, The Politics of Bioethics, analyses the politics surrounding a range of new technologies like nanotechnologies and personalised medicines, as well as the rise of genetics and genetic testing in healthcare.

Alan believes there is not enough public discussion about the realistic expectations and benefits of these technologies, some of which may shape future social, reproduction and health care decisions.

"In healthcare, for instance, if you believe some of the predictions, then genetic testing will become routine for all kinds of conditions in the future," Alan says.

"That raises all sorts of questions about confidentiality of information: who has access to it, who has responsibility for acting on that information, and wether information on the basis of a genetic test is enough to make decisions about health at all.

"But where is the discussion about whether in fact monies are well spent in some of the areas where there has been investment, or about whether the technology should be developed at all. Who are the winners and losers from technology innovations and what are the unintended impacts and these sorts of things?

 

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Research & Supervision Interests

    Sociology of health and illness, including sociology of public health and health promotion

    Sociology of new and emerging technologies, particularly biomedical technologies

    Sociology of risk

    Sociology of the body

    Constructions of sex/gender

    Sociology of emotions, including constructions of gender differences of emotionality

    Sociology of food

    Contemporary social theory

    Sustainable Societies

Keywords

Socio-cultural perspectives, Stem cell technologies, stem cell tourism, construction of sex/gender, ethical issues in scientific research; sociology of science; research training and practice; biomedi, men and aging, social inequalities; inequalities in health, sociology of disability and rehabilitation, sociology of emotion, sociology of risk, sociology of the body

Qualifications

PHD (SOCIAL AND POLITICAL THEORY)
Institution: Murdoch University
Year awarded: 1988
MA (SOCIAL ANTHRONPOLOGY)
Institution: University of Western Australia
Year awarded: 1983
BA (SOCIAL SCIENCE WITH DISTINCTION)
Institution: Western Australian Institute of Technology
Year awarded: 1979

Publications

Books

Petersen, A., 2011, The Politics of Bioethics, Routledge, New York US.

Anderson, A., Petersen, A.R., Wilkinson, C., Allan, S., 2009, Nanotechnology, Risk and Communication, Palgrave Macmillan, UK.

Petersen, A.R., Gottweis, H. (eds), 2008, Biobanks: Governance in comparative perspective, Routledge, UK.

Petersen, A.R., Wilkinson, I. (eds), 2008, Health, Risk and Vulnerability, Routledge, UK.

Petersen, A.R., 2007, The body in question: A Socio-Cultural Approach, Routledge, UK.

Bunton, R., Petersen, A.R. (eds), 2005, Genetic Governance: Health, Risk and Ethics in the Biotech Era, Routledge, UK.

Petersen, A.R., 2004, Engendering Emotions, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK.

Henderson, S., Petersen, A.R. (eds), 2002, Consuming Health: the commodification of health care, Routledge, UK.

Petersen, A.R., Bunton, R., 2002, The New Genetics and the Public's Health, Routledge, UK.

Book Chapters

Petersen, A.R., 2012, Foucault, health and healthcare, in Contemporary Theorists for Medical Sociology, eds Graham Scambler, Routledge, Abingdon Oxon Uk, pp. 7-19.

Feldman, S.E., Petersen, A.R., Radermacher, H.L., 2012, The vicissitudes of 'healthy aging': the experiences of older migrant men in a rural Australian community, in Aging Men, Masculinities and Modern Medicine, eds Antje Kampf, Barbara L Marshall & Alan Petersen, Routledge, United States, pp. 86-104.

Lee, A., Petersen, A., 2011, Discourse analysis, in Theory and Methods in Social Research, eds Bridget Somekh and Cathy Lewin, SAGE, Los Angeles, pp. 139-146.

Regan de Bere, S., Petersen, A.R., 2009, Crisis or renaissance? A sociology of anatomy in UK medical education, in Handbook of the Sociology of Medical Education, eds Bryan S Turner and Caragh Brosnan, Taylor & Francis, UK, pp. 156-173.

Petersen, A.R., 2009, Future research agenda in men's health, in Men's Health: Body, Identity and Social Context, eds Alex Broom and Philip Tovey, Wiley-Blackwell, UK, pp. 202-213.

Anderson, A., Allan, S., Petersen, A.R., Wilkinson, C., 2009, Nanoethics: The role of news media in shaping debate, in Handbook of Research on Technoethics, eds Rocci Luppicini and Rebecca Adell, Information Science Publishing, UK, pp. 373-390.

Gottweis, H., Petersen, A.R., 2008, Biobanks and governance: an introduction, in Biobanks: Governance in comparative perspective, eds Herbert Gottweis and Alan Petersen, Routledge, UK, pp. 3-21.

McNamara, B., Petersen, A.R., 2008, Framing consent: the politics of "engagement" in an Australian biobank project, in Biobanks: Governance in comparative perspective, eds Herbert Gottweis and Alan Petersen, Routledge, UK, pp. 194-209.

Bunton, R., Petersen, A.R., 2008, Genetics, governance and ethics, in Critical Perspectives in Public Health, eds Judith Green and Ronald Labonte, Routledge, UK, pp. 219-227.

Corrigan, O., Petersen, A.R., 2008, UK Biobank: bioethics as a technology of governance, in Biobanks: Governance in comparative perspective, eds Herbert Gottweis and Alan Petersen, Routledge, UK, pp. 143-158.

Petersen, A.R., Wilkinson, I., 2007, "Health, risk and vulnerability": an introduction, in Health, risk and vulnerability, eds Alan Petersen & Iain Wilkinson, Routledge, United Kingdom, pp. 1-15.

Petersen, A.R., Regan de Bere, S., 2006, Dissecting Medicine: Gender Biases in the Discourses and Practices of Medical Anatomy, in Medicalized Masculinities, eds Dana Rosenfeld and Christopher A. Faircloth, Temple University Press, USA, pp. 112-131.

Gillen, J., Petersen, A.R., 2005, Discourse Analysis, in Research methods in the Social Sciences, eds Bridget Somekh and Cathy Lewin, Sage, UK, pp. 146-153.

Bunton, R., Petersen, A.R., 2005, Genetics and governance: an introduction, in Genetic Governance: Health, Risk and Ethics in the Biotech Era, eds Robin Bunton and Alan Petersen, Routledge, UK, pp. 1-27.

Allan, S., Anderson, A., Petersen, A.R., 2005, Reporting Risk: Science Journalism and the Prospect of Human Cloning, in Trust, Risk and Uncertainty, eds Sean Watson and Anthony Moran, Palgrave Macmillan, USA, pp. 165-180.

Petersen, A.R., Kokanovic, R., Hansen, S., 2002, Consumerism and mental health care in a culturally diverse society, in Consuming Health: The Commodification of Health Care, eds Saras Henderson and Alan Petersen, Routledge, London, United Kingdom, pp. 121-139.

Petersen, A.R., 2002, Consumerism and mental health care in a culturally diverse society, in Consuming Health: the commodification of health care, eds Saras Henderson and Alan Petersen, Routledge, uk, pp. 121-139.

Henderson, S., Petersen, A.R., 2002, Consumerism in health care, in Consuming Health: the commodification of health care, eds Saras Henderson and Alan Petersen, Routledge, UK, pp. 1-10.

Journal Articles

Petersen, A.R., Bowman, D., 2012, Engaging whom and for what ends? Australian stakeholders' constructions of public engagement in relation to nanotechnologies, Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics [P], vol 12, issue 2, Inter-Research, Germany, pp. 67-79.

Petersen, A., Seear, K., 2011, Technologies of hope: techniques of the online advertising of stem cell treatments, New Genetics and Society [E], vol 30, issue 4, Taylor & Francis, UK, pp. 329-346.

Petersen, A., Anderson, A., Allan, S., 2010, Framing risk: nanotechnologies in the news, Journal Of Risk Research [P], vol 13, issue 1, January 2010, Routledge, United Kingdom, pp. 29-44.

Petersen, A., Davis, M., Fraser, S., Lindsay, J., 2010, Healthy living and citizenship: An overview, Critical Public Health [P], vol 20, issue 4, December 2010, Routledge, United Kingdom, pp. 391-400.

Petersen, A., Anderson, A., 2010, Shaping the ethics of an emergent field: scientists' and policymakers' representations of nanotechnologies, International Journal of Technoethics [P], vol 1, issue 1, January 2010, IGI Global, United States, pp. 32-44.

Petersen, A.R., Seear, K.L., 2009, In Search of Immortality: The Political Economy of Anti-aging Medicine, Medicine Studies [P], vol 1, issue 3, Springer Netherlands, Netherlands, pp. 1-13.

Petersen, A.R., Anderson, A., Allan, S., Wilkinson, C., 2009, Opening the black box: scientists' views on the role of the news media in the nanotechnology debate, Public Understanding of Science OnlineFirst, vol 18, SAGE Publications, UK, pp. 512-530.

Petersen, A.R., 2009, The ethics of expectations: biobanks and the promise of personalised medicine., Monash bioethics review [P], vol 28, issue 1, Monash University, Centre for Human Bioethics, Australia, pp. 05.1-05.12.

Gilbert, A., Lankshear, G., Petersen, A.R., 2008, Older family-carers' views on the future accommodation needs of relatives who have an intellectual disability, International Journal of Social Welfare, vol 17, issue 1, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd., UK, pp. 54-64.

Petersen, A.R., Bleakley, A., Bromer, R., Marshall, R., 2008, The Medical Humanities Today: Humane Health Care or Tool of Governance?, Journal of Medical Humanities, vol 29, issue 1, Springer New York LLC, USA, pp. 1-4.

Petersen, A.R., 2007, "Biobanks" "engagements": engendering trust or engineering consent?, Genomics, Society and Policy, vol 1, issue 3, Lancaster University, Furness College, UK, pp. 243-256.

Petersen, A.R., Anderson, A., 2007, A question of balance or blind faith?: Scientists' and science policymakers' representations of the benefits and risks of nanotechnologies, NanoEthics, vol 1, issue 3, Springer, Netherlands, pp. 243-256.

Wilkinson, C., Allan, S., Anderson, A., Petersen, A.R., 2007, From uncertainty to risk?: Scientific and news media portrayals of nanoparticle safety, Health, Risk & Society, vol 9, issue 2, Routledge, UK, pp. 145-157.

Petersen, A.R., 2007, Is the New Genetics Eugenic?: Interpreting the past, envisioning the future, New Formations: a journal of culture/theory/politics, vol 60, issue Winter 2006-2007, Lawrence & Wishart Ltd, UK, pp. 79-88.

Petersen, A.R., Anderson, A., Wilkinson, C., Allan, S., 2007, Nanotechnologies, risk and society, Health, Risk & Society, vol 9, issue 2, Routledge, UK, pp. 117-124.

Kokanovic, R., Petersen, A.R., Klimidis, S., 2006, 'Nobody can help me...I am living through it alone': Experiences of caring for people diagnosed with mental illness in ethno-cultural and linguistic minority communities, Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, vol 8, issue 2, Springer New York LLC, USA, pp. 125-135.

Regan de Bere, S., Petersen, A.R., 2006, Out of the dissecting room: News media portrayal of human anatomy teaching and research, Social Science & Medicine, vol 63, Pergamon, UK, pp. 76-88.

Petersen, A.R., 2006, The best experts: The narratives of those who have a genetic condition, Social Science & Medicine, vol 63, Pergamon, UK, pp. 32-42.

Petersen, A.R., 2006, The genetic conception of health: is it as radical as claimed?, Health: An interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, vol 10, issue 4, SAGE Publications, UK, pp. 481-500.

Petersen, A.R., 2005, Biobanks: Challenges for "ethics", Critical Public Health, vol 15, issue 4, Routledge, UK, pp. 303-310.

Petersen, A.R., Anderson, A., Allan, S., 2005, Science fiction/science fact: medical genetics in news stories, New Genetics and Society, vol 24, issue 3, Routledge, UK, pp. 337-353.

Petersen, A.R., 2005, Securing our genetic health: engendering trust in UK Biobank, Sociology of Health & Illness, vol 27, issue 2, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd., UK, pp. 271-292.

Anderson, A., Allan, S., Petersen, A.R., Wilkinson, C., 2005, The framing of nanotechnologies in the British newspaper press, Science Communication, vol 27, issue 2, SAGE Publications, USA, pp. 200-220.

Petersen, A.R., 2005, The metaphors of risk: Biotechnology in the news, Health, Risk & Society, vol 7, issue 3, Routledge, UK, pp. 203-208.

Petersen, A.R., 2003, Governmentality, Critical Scholarship, and the Medical Humanities, Journal of Medical Humanities, vol 24, issue 3/4, Springer New York LLC, USA, pp. 187-201.

Petersen, A.R., 2003, Research on men and masculinities: Some implications of recent theory for future work, Men and Masculinities, vol 6, issue 1, SAGE Publications, UK, pp. 54-69.

Bunton, R., Petersen, A.R., 2002, Genetics, ethics and governance, Critical Public Health, vol 12, issue 2, Taylor & Francis Ltd, UK, pp. 95-102.

Bunton, R., Petersen, A.R., 2002, Genetics, ethics and governance, Critical Public Health, vol 12, issue 3, Taylor & Francis Ltd, UK, pp. 201-206.

Petersen, A.R., 2002, Replicating our bodies, losing our selves: news media portrayals of human cloning in the wake of Dolly, Body & Society, vol 8, issue 4, SAGE Publications, UK, pp. 71-90.

Conference Proceedings

Petersen, A., 2011, Can and should sociology save bioethics?, Medical Sociology Online - A Journal of the BSA MedSoc Group, 14-16 September 2011, British Sociological Association, UK, pp. 2-14.

Other

Petersen, A., 2011, Who determines priorities in funding medical research, The Conversation, The Conversation, Australia.

Petersen, A., 2011, Whose Profit? Why bioethics needs a global perspective, The Conversation, The Conversation, Australia.

Petersen, A., Seear, K., Bowman, D., 2010, Communicating with citizens about nanotechnologies: Views of key stakeholders in Australia, Monash Universuty - School of Political and Social Inquiry, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 1-22.

Seear, K., Petersen, A., Munsie, M., Skinner, R., 2010, Hopeful Journeys: Experiences of stem cell treatment offered outside Australia, Monash Universuty - School of Political and Social Inquiry, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 1-25.

Seear, K., Petersen, A., Bowman, D., 2009, The Social and Economic Impacts of Nanotechnologies: A Literature Review, Monash Universuty - School of Political and Social Inquiry, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 1-106.

Petersen, A.R., 2006, Dolly and Polly, Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, vol minorencyc, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, UK, pp. 1-4.

Petersen, A.R., 2006, Nanotechnology in the news, Nanotechnology target of media scrutiny, IOP Publishing Ltd, UK.

Teaching Commitment

ATS2717/3717 Sociology of Health and Medicine

ATS2730/3730 Sustainable Societies

APGS468 Qualitative Research Strategies

Community Service

Member, National Enabling Technologies Strategy Stakeholders Advisory Council (DIISRHE) (2011-2012)

Member, Gene Technology Regulator Ethics and Community Consultative Committee (Dept Health and Aging) (2011-2014)

Member, Executive, The Australian Sociological Association (2008-2012)

Grants

Title:
Beyond bioethics.
Investigators:
Petersen, A
Funding:
(2011 - 2015). Australian Academy of Science.
Title:
Determining the individual, community and societal impacts of compensable injury in Australia.
Investigators:
Collie, A, Vogel, A, Keleher, H, McClure, R, Petersen, A
Funding:
(2011 - 2015). Australian Research Council (ARC).
(2011 - 2015). Comcare.
(2011 - 2015). Transport Accident Commission.
(2011 - 2015). Victorian WorkCover Authority (WorkSafe Victoria).
Title:
High hopes, high risk? A sociological study of stem cell tourism.
Investigators:
Petersen, A, Wainwright, S
Funding:
(2012 - 2016). Australian Research Council (ARC).
Title:
Hopeful Journeys: Patients' experiences of stem cell treatments offered outside Australia.
Investigators:
Petersen, A, Seear, K, Munsie, M, Skinner, R
Funding:
(2010 - 2014). Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
Title:
Improving Australia's response to childhood obesity: Prevention education and its impact on mothers and families.
Investigators:
Fraser, S, Wright, J, Maher, J, Petersen, A
Funding:
(2011 - 2015). Australian Research Council (ARC).
Title:
Nanotechnologies: Views of key stakeholders.
Investigators:
Petersen, A, Seear, K, Bowman, D
Funding:
(2010 - 2014). Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
Title:
Nanotechnology Literature Review.
Investigators:
Petersen, A, Bowman, D, Seear, K
Funding:
(2008 - 2012). Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
(2009 - 2013). Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
A case study of representations of sustainability in higher education institutions.
Supervisors:
Petersen, A (Joint), Stanley, J (Joint-co).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Environmental discourse on population growth: A comparative study of environmental groups in western democracies.
Supervisors:
Arunachalam, D (Joint-co), Birrell, R (Joint), Petersen, A (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Fatshionistas: Fat Women Negotiating Fashion.
Supervisors:
Petersen, A (Main), Maher, J (Associate).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Negotiating Hope: Doctor-Patient Narrative Construction in Stem Cell Tourism to China.
Supervisors:
Petersen, A (Joint-co).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Reproductive health: a comparative study of childbearing complications and adverse outcomes in Bangladesh and Australia.
Supervisors:
Arunachalam, D (Joint-co), Petersen, A (Joint).
Program of Study:
(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).
Thesis Title:
Smoking culture in Indonesia.
Supervisors:
Petersen, A (Main), Davis, M (Associate).

Completed Supervision

Student:
Seear, K.
Program of Study:
Gynaecological governance: femininity, responsibility and self-care among women with endometriosis. (PHD) 2008.
Supervisors:
Petersen, A (Joint-Co), Singleton, A (Joint).