During the pandemic, wellness was conceived as a gateway to misinformation and conspiracy theories. In this talk, Stephanie Alice Baker discusses what makes wellness culture susceptible to conspiratorial views, who is most vulnerable and why. She also examines how false and misleading health information is amplified online, who stands to profit and how. In addition to examining how wellness influencers monetise alternative health, she analyses the role of new media technologies in forging community and identity. Finally, she explores what has changed since the pandemic, questioning to what extent wellness and misinformation are new bedfellows.
Stephanie Alice Baker is reader in sociology at City, University of London, UK. Her research examines self-help and wellness cultures, particularly the role of new media technologies in creating communities and spreading false and misleading health information online. In 2021, she was invited by the UK Parliament to provide evidence on radicalisation, terrorism and extremism, and she continues to assist policymakers in their efforts to reduce and respond to mis/disinformation online. She is the author of Social Tragedy: The Power of Myth, Ritual, and Emotion in the New Media Ecology (2014); Wellness Culture: How the Wellness Movement Has Been Used to Empower, Profit and Misinform (2022); and co-author of Lifestyle Gurus: Constructing Authority and Influence Online (2019) and Cults (2024).
Time: Monday 4 March 16–18.
Venue: Faculty Hall, Faculty of Theology (room 4038), Fabianinkatu 33
The event is co-organized by HEREMES and MERELPO.
You are warmly welcome!