Death by Disinformation: COVID-19 and the Affective Economies of Anti-public Health Memes: Lecture by Martha Kenney

Thursday, Oct. 1, 10:30-11:45 a.m.

ED-2003

For more info: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KeNz8qcen/

Analyzing an archive of anti-public health memes that circulated during the Covid-19 pandemic, I show how these memes mobilize discourses of superiority and domination to appeal to the American right. Drawing on the field of whiteness studies, I argue that an investment in whiteness and remaining atop an imagined racial hierarchy makes right-wing voters susceptible to health disinformation about vaccines, masking, and other public health measures. Identifying white supremacy as a factor, I argue that dismantling systems of oppression is necessary to move beyond individualist decision-making to create public health responses predicated on interdependence, collective action, and mutual flourishing.

Martha Kenney is Professor in Women and Gender Studies at San Francisco State University and Director of the SFSU Science, Technology, and Society Hub. Located in the tradition of feminist science studies, her research examines how technoscientific narratives support, contest, and reconfigure collective visions of desirable futures. She teaches classes in feminist science studies, environmental justice, critical AI studies, video game studies, and speculative fiction.

Presented by Department of Gender Studies

Event Listing 2026-10-01 10:30:00 2026-10-01 11:45:00 America/St_Johns Death by Disinformation: COVID-19 and the Affective Economies of Anti-public Health Memes: Lecture by Martha Kenney For more info: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KeNz8qcen/ Analyzing an archive of anti-public health memes that circulated during the Covid-19 pandemic, I show how these memes mobilize discourses of superiority and domination to appeal to the American right. Drawing on the field of whiteness studies, I argue that an investment in whiteness and remaining atop an imagined racial hierarchy makes right-wing voters susceptible to health disinformation about vaccines, masking, and other public health measures. Identifying white supremacy as a factor, I argue that dismantling systems of oppression is necessary to move beyond individualist decision-making to create public health responses predicated on interdependence, collective action, and mutual flourishing. Martha Kenney is Professor in Women and Gender Studies at San Francisco State University and Director of the SFSU Science, Technology, and Society Hub. Located in the tradition of feminist science studies, her research examines how technoscientific narratives support, contest, and reconfigure collective visions of desirable futures. She teaches classes in feminist science studies, environmental justice, critical AI studies, video game studies, and speculative fiction. ED-2003 Department of Gender Studies