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. He became a professor there in 2007.[1] His interest is in the research of the suppression of dissent.[2][3] According to the BBC Martin has studied whistleblowing in science.[4]

He was president of Whistleblowers Australia from 1996 to 1999 and remains their International Director.[5] Martin is also a former member of the anti-vaccine Australian Vaccination Network as well as the pro-vaccine Skeptics Society.[6]

Professor Martin has spoken at a British Science Association Festival of Science,[4] spoken on ABC Radio Australia[5][7] and testified at the Australian Federal Senate's Inquiry into Academic Freedom.[2][8]

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,[9] fluoridation and nuclear power.[10] 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".[11]

Martin is known as one of the supporters of the theory of OPV-AIDS.[12][13][14][15] 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,[16][12] with Hooper crediting Martin for giving the OPV-AIDS link hypothesis "further publicity and credibility".[14] Martin attended an AIDS Origin meeting and a press conference on the unproven theory[17] at the Royal Society in London in 2000.[13] In 2004 Hammar even credited Martin for almost creating a "cottage industry around the sociological and philosophical implications of the thesis and ensuing cover-up".[15] 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".[18] Martin has been criticised for supporting the theory even though it was disproved through genetic studies in 2008[12] and it is now largely considered "debunked conspiracy theory".[19]

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;[7] he has written about the unauthorised use of research produced by students and junior researchers by senior academics;[20] and he has been outspoken against sexual relationships between staff and students.[21][22] 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]

A whistle-blowing researcher, 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".[23]

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[24] to assess the topic of vaccine science.[18] 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.[24]

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'.[9]

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.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Martin's curriculum vitae, (Self-published at www.bmartin.cc) (downloaded 27. November 2011)
  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 (2016-01-14). "Brian Martin and Judy Wilyman: Promoting antivaccine pseudoscience as "dissent"". Science Blogs. Retrieved 2016-02-09.
  4. 1 2 3 Murcott, Toby (11 September 2000). "Science needs its whistleblowers". BBC News. Retrieved 29 January 2010.
  5. 1 2 Barclay, Paul (May 10, 2004). "Perspective: Whistleblowers and Iraq". ABC Radio. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  6. 1 2 Morton, Rick (January 28, 2014). "University paid for anti-vaccine student to attend conference". The Australian. Retrieved 2016-01-22. (subscription required (help)).
  7. 1 2 Colvin, Mark (April 17, 2014). "PM: Investigations mounting into research at University of New South Wales". ABC Radio. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  8. ↑ APH (October 9, 2008). "Inquiry into Academic Freedom". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved January 29, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Lapointe, Pascal (January 15, 2016). "L'anti-vaccination à l'université". Agence Science Presse (Quebec, CA). Retrieved 2016-03-17. 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."
  10. 1 2 "Brian Martin, Search Results at National Library of Australia". Online catalogue at NLA. (Australia). Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  11. ↑ Hess, David J. (1997). Science Studies: An Advanced Introduction, NYU Press (U.S.A.). ISBN 9780814735640. p152.
  12. 1 2 3 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.
  13. 1 2 Cohen, Jon (September 15, 2000). "Vaccine Theory of AIDS Origins Disputed at Royal Society". Science Magazine (U.S.A.). Vol 289, No 5486: pp 1850–1851. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  14. 1 2 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.
  15. 1 2 Hammar, Lawrence (Anth/SocSc) (April 1, 2004). "Dephlogistication, Imperial Display, Apes, Angels, and the Return of Monsieur Emile Zola" (PDF). Papua New Guinea Medical Journal. Vol 47, No 1-2, Mar-Jun 2004: pp 120, 124. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  16. ↑ Curtis, Tom (March 19, 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.
  17. ↑ Editor (December 9, 1993). "'Origin of AIDS' update - Clarification". Rolling Stone magazine (671). p. 39. This 'Clarification' article forms part of the defamation settlement when Hilary Koprowski sued Tom Curtis & Rolling Stone magazine in 1992-93.
  18. 1 2 Loussikian, Kylar (2016-01-16). "Anti-vaccination activists spruik PhD thesis as proof of conspiracy". The Australian. Retrieved 2016-01-17. (subscription required (help)).
  19. ↑ "Debunked: The Polio Vaccine and HIV Link". College of Physicians of Philadelphia - historyofvaccines.org. January 21, 2016. Retrieved 2016-03-12.
  20. ↑ Matthews, David. (22 October 2015). "Papers retracted after authors used unauthorised data from junior researchers", Times Higher Education, London. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  21. ↑ Harvey, Sarah. (14 February 2010). "Staff-student review may have wider impact", The Sunday Star-Times, New Zealand. pA005.
  22. ↑ Powell, Stan. (29 May 1993). "Uni Staff Attacked for having Sex with Students", The Sydney Morning Herald, p11.
  23. ↑ Pickard, Gabrielle (December 25, 2014). "Who Does The Whistleblower Protection Act Really Protect?". Top Secret Writers. (U.S.A.). Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  24. 1 2 "When fulltime isn’t quite that, and Queensland’s VET goes to Kerala". The Australian. February 2, 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-02.

External links

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