The Badger-TB Controversy: Expertise and Experience in Animal Disease Research
Lead Research Organisation:
University of East Anglia
Department Name: Environmental Sciences
Abstract
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Publications
Cassidy A
(2012)
Vermin, Victims and Disease: UK Framings of Badgers In and Beyond the Bovine TB Controversy
in Sociologia Ruralis
Cassidy A
(2012)
"Fox Tots Attack Shock": Urban Foxes, Mass Media and Boundary-Breaching
in Environmental Communication
Cassidy, A.
(2017)
Understanding Conflicts about Wildlife: a Biosocial Approach
| Description | This research investigated public debates in the UK over the transmission of bovine TB (bTB) between domestic cattle and wild badgers, and whether badgers should be culled to manage the disease. The central aim of this research was to find out how and why the science of badgers and bTB came to be contested in the public sphere, by mapping its development in the British national media since the mid-1990s, and interviewing key people who have been involved in the controversy. Key findings include: - Badgers have been framed in these debates as either dangerous, disruptive vermin, or as a charismatic British wildlife species and innocent 'scapegoat': these framings have played a central role, acting as a rhetorical resource for actors to communicate their arguments for and against badger culling. By looking at cultural sources, such as fiction and poetry; as well as historical data we can see these framings long predate any connection with bTB. This suggests that the current bTB controversy is at least in part a continuation of a much older debate about badgers and how humans can and should live alongside them. - Media coverage of the issue has correspondingly been framed in two opposing ways: either bTB as an agricultural problem, or badger culling as a potential environmental risk. In national newspapers, the majority of this coverage has been written either by agricultural and environmental specialist journalists, or by columnists and commentators advocating for or again a cull. In this coverage, opinions on whether or not to cull have also been associated with the political orientations of the newspaper they are published in. These oppositional ways of understanding the issue have been mutually constituted between these specialists, their sources and audiences over a long period of time, and are deeply embedded in the broader public debate over bTB. - Over time, public 'responsibility' for resolving the bTB problem has gradually passed back and forth between policy; science; 'the public' and politicians themselves. Widespread expectations that science, in the form of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) would provide sufficient evidence to formulate an uncontested bTB policy have not been fulfilled, and instead the RBCT data has been subject to ongoing processes of interpretation and reinterpretation by actors in the controversy ever since. |
| Exploitation Route | These findings have important implications for the ongoing bTB controversy, which has rarely been discussed in an historical context; for actors and policymakers engaging in these public debates; and for policy and political engagement with the bTB problem itself. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections,Other |
| Description | Participant in Defra's Bovine TB Science Workshop |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| URL | https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tb-science-workshop-report-the-royal-society-25-april-201... |
| Description | Wellcome Trust Medical Humanities Research Fellowship |
| Amount | £179,911 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 101540/Z/13/Z |
| Organisation | Wellcome Trust |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2013 |
| End | 10/2017 |
| Description | "Fox tots attack shock": urban foxes, mass media and boundary breaching |
| Organisation | University of East Anglia |
| Department | School of Film and Television Studies |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Collaborative research with Dr. Brett Mills (School of Film and Television Studies, University of East Anglia), looking at media representations of urban foxes as a case study of media representations of urban pest animals. Led to a jointly authored journal article, currently accepted for publication by 'Environmental Communication: A Journal of Nature and Culture' (see output https://researchoutcomes.rcuk.ac.uk/grants/RES-229-27-0007-A/outputs/Read/61bd244a-2399-469c-8454-9df83772fff9). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Collaborative research leading to jointly authored article. |
| Impact | Article published in Environmental Communication, 2012 |
| Start Year | 2010 |
| Description | 'Heroic' Mr Badger has clouded TB debate, research concludes |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Article in Farmers Guardian Farmers Guardian |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.farmersguardian.com/home/livestock/heroic-mr-badger-has-clouded-tb-debate-research-conclu... |
| Description | Badgers & People: current conflicts and a troubled history |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Non-technical piece aimed at members of the Mammal Society outlining key findings of Soc. Rur. article Mammal News |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012,2013 |
| URL | http://www.mammal.org.uk/sites/default/files/MamNews_12_164_Autumn.pdf |
| Description | Badgers and TB: Let's open up the debate |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Short opinion piece commenting on polarisation of the bTB debate People and Science magazine |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/people-science-magazine/september-2012/regular-items-septem... |
| Description | Badgers and bovine TB : coverage of a messy science/policy case in the UK press |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at RELU sponsored workshop - Bovine TB: People, Politics and Culture. Increased profile of the research amongst policymakers, vets, scientists and other key actors in bTB. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/gld/results/workshops/ |
| Description | Badgers and bovine TB : coverage of a messy science/policy case in the UK press |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Presentation at the London Public Understanding of Science seminar series Discussion with colleagues |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.lse.ac.uk/methodology/newsEvents/pus.aspx |
| Description | Badgers' fate influenced by books, research discovers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Article in The Guardian The Guardian |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/apr/24/badgers-books-culling-study |
| Description | Badgers: Splitting public opinion for more than 200 years |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Interviewee for report on Radio 4 'Today' programme (broadcast 27/10/12) and BBC News Online piece by Roger Harrabin: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19870587 Harrabin, R. 'Badgers: Splitting public opinion for more than 200 years' BBC News Online, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19870587 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19870587 |
| Description | Bovine tuberculosis : people, politics and culture |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Co-organiser of RELU sponsored workshop, matched with Bovine TB: Hosts, Pathogens and Environments, exploring the social and natural science of bovine TB. Attended by academics, government scientists, veterinarians, policymakers and other stakeholders in bTB. Ongoing contact with actors in bTB. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| URL | http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/gld/results/workshops/ |
| Description | British culture and the badger debate: uncertainty and values in risk communication |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Discussion of the influence of national cultures on public debates about risk and food. Presented to Division of Humanities and Social Sciences, POSTECH, S. Korea, 12th December 2012 (invited speaker). Ongoing discussion; part of PG training programme |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Caricaturing Britain's badgers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Gareth Mitchell interviews Dr Angela Cassidy about how cultural depiction of badgers can change ideas about culling the animals when they spread diseases like Bovine TB. Not to my knowledge. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www2.imperial.ac.uk/imedia/content/view/2388/caricaturing-britains-badgers/ |
| Description | Good badgers, bad badgers and the debate on TB |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Report based on 2012 publication 'Vermin Victims and Disease" Ongoing discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/170/18/454.1.extract |
| Description | Science, media, policy and wildlife : the badger/bovine TB controversy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Seminar talk given as part of a networking visit to the RELU project 'Lost in Translation'. Talk presented to project partners at both Liverpool and Lancaster Universities. Ongoing contact with colleagues |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Science, media, policy and wildlife : the badger/bovine TB controversy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
| Results and Impact | Seminar talk to Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratory Service staff, Weybridge, Surrey. Raising awareness of social aspects of bTB problem with scientific actors |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Science, media, policy and wildlife : the badger/bovine TB controversy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk summarising the Fellowship research given to the Badger Trust Annual meeting. The Badger Trust is the central NGO body involved in campaigning against badger culling, and a key stakeholder for the research. The Badger Trust is the central NGO body involved in campaigning against badger culling, and a key stakeholder for the research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Uncertainty and public controversy: the badger/bTB debate |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Ongoing discussion |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Vermin, victims and disease : representations of badgers in the bovine TB debate |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of media analysis research findings to London International Development Centre Seminar Series. Contact with NFU representatives. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Vermin, victims and disease : representations of badgers in the bovine TB debate |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to DEFRA Economics and Social Science Advisory Board meeting, 26th January 2010 DEFRA Economics and Social Science Advisory Board meeting |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |