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Crisis Policymaking: Is There Need for a Pragmatist Turn?

Department & Center Events

Tuesday, July 12, 2022, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. ET
Location
Zoom
Online
Past Event

CROSS-SCHOOL LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT IN HEALTHCARE INVITED SPEAKER SEMINAR SERIES

Trish Greenhalgh
Professor of Primary Care
University of Oxford

This lecture will argue that at times of crisis, what is sometimes called “evidence-based” or “science-driven” policymaking-establishing scientific truths and then implementing them – must be tempered by a more agile, deliberative and inclusive approach which acknowledges and embraces uncertainty.  Pragmatism is one potential approach.  The speaker will use examples from the UK to illustrate how such an approach might have changed particular crisis decisions and led to better outcomes in the pandemic.  To better prepare for the next public health crisis, five pragmatism – informed shifts are needed in the policymaking process: from scientism to science-informed narrative rationality; from knowledge-then-action to acting judiciously under uncertainty; from hierarchies of evidence to pluralist inquiry; from polarized camps to frame-reflective dialogue; and from an “inside-track” science policy dialogue to greater participatory democracy.

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Contact Info

Mary Keyes