Agnotology: a new field for the study of social representations

Abstract

The emergence and spread of a new disease, Covid-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has had considerable social effects. Such a movement of opinion was favoured by the initial weakness of scientific knowledge, whether it concerned the origin of the virus, its effects or its diagnosis and treatment, for which containment was the first collective protection measure, before vaccination. This kind of phenomenon has taken on such a dimension that it is relevant to refer to an emerging research trend in the social sciences: agnotology or the study of ignorance.