Brian Martin (social scientist)

Brian Martin
Born 1947
Gary, Indiana, USA
Education Rice University, (BA in Physics); University of Sydney (PhD)
Occupation Social scientist at University of Wollongong (social study of dissent, peace studies); formerly mathematician at Australian National University
Years active 1973–present
Employer University of Wollongong

Brian Martin (born 1947) is a social scientist at the Faculty of Arts School of Humanities and Social Inquiry at the University of Wollongong in NSW, Australia.[1] He became a professor there in 2007. His interest is in the research of the suppression of dissent.[2][3] According to the BBC, he has studied whistleblowing in science;[4] he was president of Whistleblowers Australia from 1996 to 1999 and remains their International Director.[5] He is also a former member of the anti-vaccine Australian Vaccination Network as well as the pro-vaccine Skeptics Society.[6]

Martin has spoken at a British Science Association Festival of Science,[4] and testified at the Australian Federal Senate's Inquiry into Academic Freedom.[2][7]

Research

Martin's original academic field was stratospheric modelling and numerical methods. He has published extensively about the social dynamics and politicisation of controversial scientific topics. His topics of inquiry have included the globalization of polarised science such as the origin of HIV/AIDS,[8] fluoridation and nuclear power.[9] He argues that there are situations in which scientific research that threatens vested interests can be suppressed. He identifies a number of direct and indirect mechanisms through which this can occur, ranging from the denial of funds and the denial of promotion and tenure, through to the creation of a "general climate of fear".[10]

Martin has been criticised for being a supporter of the now debunked theory of OPV-AIDS.[11][12][13] The hypothesis was first popularised in Rolling Stone magazine by way of journalist Curtis and AIDS activist Elswood in 1992, and was later further promoted by the journalist/writer Hooper and Martin,[11][14] with Hooper crediting Martin for giving the OPV-AIDS link hypothesis "further publicity and credibility".[15] Martin disputes the claim that he has been a supporter of the hypothesis, instead saying that he has "never argued in favour of the OPV theory", but has instead stated "that it was and remains worthy of consideration yet in many ways has been unfairly dismissed".[16] In 2010, Martin published a paper in which he argued that "medical researchers had colluded to silence" the discredited OPV-AIDS hypothesis, and has said that although the peer-review process for the theory was almost "entirely negative", there can be situations where justice appears to be provided by the official processes, but "in many cases there is little corresponding substance".[17]

Martin has been active in the criticism of university systems. He has been critical of conflicts of interest within Universities where they are managing internal investigations which may lead to bad publicity, and recommends having independent groups investigating allegations of misconduct;[18] he has written about the unauthorised use of research produced by students and junior researchers by senior academics;[19] and he has been outspoken against sexual relationships between staff and students.[20][21] He also reports that any bias within universities could simply be due to students strategically working in-line with the biases of their teachers.[2]

Martin believes that if complainants go through the official channels the outcome is very predictable, in that organisation's internal grievance procedures or making a complaint to the relevant ombudsman doesn't work.[4] But he also believes whistleblower laws also don't work, saying; "Not only are whistleblower laws flawed through exemptions and in-built weaknesses but in their implementation they are rarely helpful".[22]

Criticism

Martin has been criticised for his role in the Judith Wilyman PhD controversy[6] where medical academics and the AMA raised concerns of whether Professor Martin had the necessary knowledge[23] to assess the topic of vaccine science.[17] David Gorski has criticised Martin, claiming that he is not distinguishing between dissent based on facts, science and logic as opposed to dissent based on pseudoscience and misinformation,[3] and The Australian has criticised him for not recognising academic rigour over academic freedom.[23]

Others including David Gorski have criticised Martin as a defender of former surgeon and researcher Andrew Wakefield,[3] and Agence Science Presse reports Martin 'also defends the idea of a vaccine-autism link'.[8]

Awards

In 2016 the Australian Skeptics awarded the Social Sciences Department of the University of Wollongong, Judith Wilyman, & her academic advisor Brian Martin, The Bent Spoon Award for awarding her a doctorate on the basis of “a PhD thesis riddled with errors, misstatements, poor and unsupported ‘evidence’ and conspiratorial thinking”[24][25]

Publications

In 2014 and 2015, Brian Martin published several books through Irene Publishing in Sweden, an activist publisher. These included Non-violence Unbound, Backfire Manual, Whistleblowing: A Practical Guide, and The Controversy Manual. Information from the National Library of Australia show Martin has also published with Praeger, State University of New York Press, Rowman & Littlefield, War Resisters' International, Angus and Robertson, SUNY Press, and the Freedom Press.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Academic Staff #M, School of Humanities & Social Inquiry". University of Wollongong. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Devine, Miranda (4 December 2008). "Monoculture is killing thought". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 Gorski, David (14 January 2016). "Brian Martin and Judy Wilyman: Promoting antivaccine pseudoscience as "dissent"". Science Blogs. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Murcott, Toby (11 September 2000). "Science needs its whistleblowers". BBC News. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  5. ↑ Barclay, Paul (10 May 2004). "Perspective: Whistleblowers and Iraq". ABC Radio. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  6. 1 2 Morton, Rick (28 January 2014). "University paid for anti-vaccine student to attend conference". The Australian. Retrieved 22 January 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  7. ↑ APH (9 October 2008). "Inquiry into Academic Freedom". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  8. 1 2 Lapointe, Pascal (15 January 2016). "L'anti-vaccination à l'université". Agence Science Presse. Quebec, CA. Retrieved 17 March 2016. translation= "The professor she chose as supervisor, Brian Martin, is known for his belief in a conspiracy to silence and hide the study that the AIDS virus was caused by the polio vaccine. And he also defends the idea of a vaccine-autism link."
  9. 1 2 "Brian Martin, Search Results at National Library of Australia". Online catalogue at NLA. (Australia). Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Hess, David J. (1997). Science Studies: An Advanced Introduction, NYU Press (U.S.A.). ISBN 9780814735640. p152.
  11. 1 2 Jenkins, Stephen H. (2015). Tools for Critical Thinking in Biology. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 217–219. ISBN 978-0-19-998104-5. text= "Although Hooper and Martin are still promoting the tainted polio vaccine hypothesis, recent genetic work has convincingly disproven it... Worobey's team published their genetic comparison of HIV samples in 2008, but Brian Martin continued to promote the tainted polio vaccine hypothesis for the origin of AIDS as late as 2010 in a paper called "How to Attack a Scientific Theory and Get Away with It (Usually)..." p 218.
  12. ↑ . (21 January 2016). "Debunked: The Polio Vaccine and HIV Link". College of Physicians of Philadelphia - historyofvaccines.org. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  13. ↑ Hammar, Lawrence (Anth/SocSc) (1 April 2004). "Dephlogistication, Imperial Display, Apes, Angels, and the Return of Monsieur Emile Zola" (PDF). Papua New Guinea Medical Journal. 47 (1-2, Mar-Jun 2004): pp 120, 124. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  14. ↑ Curtis, Tom (19 March 1992). "The Origin of AIDS: A startling new theory attempts to answer the question, 'Was it an act of God or an act of man?". Rolling Stone magazine (626). pp. 54–9, 61, 106, 108.
  15. ↑ Hooper, Edward (1999). The River: A Journey Back to the Source of HIV and AIDS. (U.S.A.): Little Brown and Company. p. 797. ISBN 0-316-37261-7.
  16. ↑ Martin, Brian. (16 May 2016). "Critical thinking about the origin of AIDS: Comments on Stephen Jenkins’ account". Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  17. 1 2 Loussikian, Kylar (16 January 2016). "Anti-vaccination activists spruik PhD thesis as proof of conspiracy". The Australian. Retrieved 17 January 2016. (subscription required (help)).
  18. ↑ Colvin, Mark (17 April 2014). "PM: Investigations mounting into research at University of New South Wales". ABC Radio. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  19. ↑ Matthews, David. (22 October 2015). "Papers retracted after authors used unauthorised data from junior researchers", Times Higher Education, London. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  20. ↑ Harvey, Sarah. (14 February 2010). "Staff-student review may have wider impact", The Sunday Star-Times, New Zealand. pA005.
  21. ↑ Powell, Stan. (29 May 1993). "Uni Staff Attacked for having Sex with Students", The Sydney Morning Herald, p11.
  22. ↑ Pickard, Gabrielle (25 December 2014). "Who Does The Whistleblower Protection Act Really Protect?". Top Secret Writers. (U.S.A.). Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  23. 1 2 . (2 February 2016). "When fulltime isn't quite that, and Queensland's VET goes to Kerala". The Australian. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  24. ↑ "2016 Skeptics awards – Spoon to Wilyman, Skeptic of the Year to Harvey and Vickers". www.skeptics.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  25. ↑ "Skeptics name winners of Bent Spoon award". pharmacynews.com.au. Retrieved 28 November 2016.

External links

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