Barry Gibson
bgibsonsociologist.bsky.social
Barry Gibson
@bgibsonsociologist.bsky.social
Sociologist of Health and Illness, working in dentistry. Interests include grounded theory methodology, Niklas Luhmann's social theory and sociological theory in general. Currently working on tooth loss and the experience of inequalities in oral health.
Reposted by Barry Gibson
The deadline to submit abstracts for the SSSI 2026 conference is quickly approaching! Abstracts due by November 28th, 2025: www.qualitatives.ca/submit-abstract
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
June 10-12, 2026
More information at www.symbolicinteraction.org/North-Americ... or www.qualitatives.ca/CFP
Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction - North American Annual Meeting
www.symbolicinteraction.org
November 24, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
The SSSI 2026 annual meeting will be held in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, June 10-12, 2026, with The Qualitatives. Submit abstracts at www.qualitatives.ca/submit-abstract by November 28th, 2025. More information at www.symbolicinteraction.org/North-Americ... or www.qualitatives.ca/CFP.
The Qualitatives - Submit an Abstract
Deadline for Submissions: 28 November 2025 We expect to send notifications early in 2026. Please Note: Some Safari users have had difficulty submitting using the form. If this is the case, please try...
www.qualitatives.ca
October 28, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
✨✨✨ Recent international comparisons of Life Expectancy show that the UK’s faltering health is a choice for govt - not an inevitability

The causes are deep-seated and reflect the long run economic decline and policy neglect over several decades

Time for action

www.health.org.uk/features-and...
England’s fraying health: laying bare the latest findings
Jo Bibby explores our latest mortality trends research, why England has slipped backwards and what we can do to reverse the course.
www.health.org.uk
May 29, 2025 at 9:01 AM
These variations are substantial. I also think they pop the myth that we cannot go on spending money on the NHS and that spending is going up and up. Clearly it varies and how it varies is a political decision.
What is the NHS budget and how has it changed over time? How is the NHS funded? Where does money spent on the NHS go? We answer all of these questions in our NHS budget nutshell. buff.ly/w4wMMOa
The NHS Budget And How It Has Changed | The King's Fund
What is the NHS budget and how is it funded? Find out in our nutshell.
buff.ly
April 4, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
Our researchers
@drsuzanneglover.bsky.social and @jen-kettle.bsky.social
met with the Co-production Collective today. It's a fantastic connection - learn more here coproductioncollective.co.uk

@disabilitymatters.bsky.social @bgibsonsociologist.bsky.social @kirstyliddiard1.bsky.social
Welcome to the Co-Production Collective
coproductioncollective.co.uk
March 24, 2025 at 5:27 PM
I am trying to focus on the power of listening. I is hard to listen when everything seems so crazy - 'the grind.' Then Louise's blog post landed.

tinyurl.com/2s4devwn

Even within 'the grind,' we can listen, learn, and create space for the talents and goals of those around us. #crippingbreath
March 25, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
🔴 For *four years* officials refused to release names of all companies linked to Conservative donors and party figures put in the 'VIP' lane for bumper Covid contracts

Now a judge has ordered them to.

Huge win for @jennacorderoy.bsky.social (and DfS)
democracyforsale.substack.com/p/government...
Government loses legal battle over Covid ‘VIP Lane’
Exclusive: Judge slams “most unsatisfactory” Cabinet Office and orders release of names of 'VIP' firms to Democracy for Sale reporter - after *four year* wait.
democracyforsale.substack.com
March 22, 2025 at 8:33 AM
This week's second article reveals the emotional and practical challenges faced by using NIV for people with neuromuscular disorders. Takeaways include the balance between life extension and machine dependence, and the constant feeling of vulnerability.

shorturl.at/0qjRv

#ventilation #lifeofbreath
March 21, 2025 at 11:58 AM
This is the first of two great readings this week! It covers the journey into and through ventilation. @crippingbreath.bsky.social what are your thoughts on the human-centered design framework in the context of critical disability studies?

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

#ventilation
March 21, 2025 at 8:25 AM
I am absolutely dumbfounded. How is this possible?

BBC News - Greenpeace ordered to pay more than $660m for defaming oil firm in protests
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Greenpeace ordered to pay more than $660m for defaming oil firm in protests
Greenpeace has warned it could be forced into bankruptcy because of the case brought by Energy Transfer.
www.bbc.com
March 20, 2025 at 7:49 AM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
Next week, our Artist-in-Residence Louise Atkinson & our Research Associate Grace Joseph are attending the Blindness and Expanded Sculpture Conference at Leeds Art Gallery 🙌🏽

henry-moore.org/whats-on/bli...
Blindness and Expanded Sculpture | Henry Moore Institute
Wednesday 19 March 2025: this conference at Leeds Art Gallery asks, what can blindness bring to sculpture?
henry-moore.org
March 18, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
🚨Job Klaxon🚨

Seeking a post-doc for 5.5 years (!) on our brand new @medicinewithoutdoctors.org project!

The candidate will be working with @cathm.bsky.social and the wider team to lead on playful, design-based methodological collaboration.

Deadline 31 March 2025

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMD146/p...
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Medicine without Doctors) at The University of Edinburgh
Explore an exciting academic career as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Medicine without Doctors). Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.
www.jobs.ac.uk
March 18, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Stunning morning walk looking west on the edge of Rivelin Valley, Sheffield, England. #dogwalking
March 18, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
Money problems are linked to health problems – and the relationship goes both ways.  

Explore the impact of money worries in our guest blog by Ruth Puig-Peiro, Health Systems Strategy Lead at the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS).

buff.ly/xkraNYk
.
It's Time To Start Talking Openly About The Impact Of Money Worries | The King's Fund
Ruth Puig-Peiro, Health Systems Strategy Lead at the Money and Pensions Service, explains how the health service could have a role to play in helping people talk about financial issues.
buff.ly
March 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
This week's read is the paper by Maines et al. on Mead's theory of the past. It is such a thorough walk through Mead's ideas on the past his analysis is really elegant and dynamic. I am surprised we never see it used very much in sociological thinking.

www.jstor.org/stable/20951...
The Sociological Import of G. H. Mead's Theory of the Past on JSTOR
David R. Maines, Noreen M. Sugrue, Michael A. Katovich, The Sociological Import of G. H. Mead's Theory of the Past, American Sociological Review, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Apr., 1983), pp. 161-173
www.jstor.org
March 14, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
Antibiotics have become a substitute for access to urgent dental care.

Until this gap is closed we won’t see the end of DIY dentistry.

And we’ll be fuelling antibiotic resistance, an existential threat to human health.
March 9, 2025 at 8:20 AM
These look like great results. Certainly, the fall in some of those chemicals is striking. The opposition to Ulez was significant. Will these results make any difference to the debate? #publichealth

www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Dramatic fall in London’s levels of deadly pollutants after Ulez expansion
People in capital breathing much cleaner air, with significant improvements in capital’s most deprived areas
www.theguardian.com
March 7, 2025 at 12:13 PM
What brilliant news Zoe and team! This has been in the pipeline for quite a few years now. It shows that perseverance works.
Prof Zoe Marshman was on BBC Breakfast this morning welcoming the announcement about the government’s Supervised Toothbrushing programme, which has received £11m in funding 🎉 if you missed it, head to 2:36:00 on the link below 👇

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...
Breakfast - 07/03/2025
The latest news, sport, business and weather from the BBC's Breakfast team.
www.bbc.co.uk
March 7, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Work-related reading on memory, memory practices, and the politics of memory. This paper is an absolute beast. I can see why it is the go-to place for ideas on memory.

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...
Social Memory Studies: From “Collective Memory” to the Historical Sociology of Mnemonic Practices | Annual Reviews
Despite substantial work in a variety of disciplines, substantive areas, and geographical contexts, social memory studies is a nonparadigmatic, transdisciplinary, centerless enterprise. To remedy this...
www.annualreviews.org
March 7, 2025 at 9:52 AM
It has been a crazy week. This is by far the most useful reading I did this week. Lots of great advice and solid ideas to reduce stress, allow yourself the freedom to be 'normal'. Work-related reading is coming up.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Why we should stop wishing we were special – and celebrate being ordinary
Trying to dazzle others with our brilliance all the time can lead us into dark places and take us further away from who we really are
www.theguardian.com
March 7, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
Job opening for a lecturer in PPE @ Kings College, London - Applicants with a profile in the History of Economic Thought are encouraged to apply!

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DMA388/l...
Lecturer in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at King's College London
Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Lecturer in Politics, Philosophy and Economics on jobs.ac.uk!
www.jobs.ac.uk
March 6, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Reposted by Barry Gibson
Sam Altman says GPT-4.5 has "a magic to it i haven't felt before."

I'm reminded of Peter Nagy and Gina Neff's article about "the conjuration of algorithms—a strategically deployed narrative device that uses the principles of magic to manipulate the public perception of technologies."
Conjuring algorithms: Understanding the tech industry as stage magicians - Peter Nagy, Gina Neff, 2024
In this article, we introduce the term “conjuration of algorithms” to describe how the tech industry uses the language of magic to shape people’s perceptions of...
journals.sagepub.com
February 28, 2025 at 3:12 PM
This weeks reading for our Consumption Studies reading group. This is an interesting conceptual piece on how we might integrate #practicetheory with a new critical public health approach to pressing social challenges. Interesting article-lots of new concepts!

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
Obese societies: Reconceptualising the challenge for public health
The prevalence of obesity and related health problems has increased sharply in recent decades. Dominant medical, economic, psychological, and especially epidemiological accounts conceptualise these t...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
February 28, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I am a bit late with this week's read. Given all of the things that are going on in University life right now, this seems most appropriate. It is a fictional account that gets to the heart of the perplexities of University life at present.

www.amazon.co.uk/University-C...
University in Crumbs: A Register of Things Seen and Heard
Buy University in Crumbs: A Register of Things Seen and Heard by Porter, Robert, Porter, Kerry-Ann (ISBN: 9781538165324) from Amazon's Book Store. Free UK delivery on eligible orders.
www.amazon.co.uk
February 22, 2025 at 1:59 PM